Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator Murphy Exploration and Production USA published 328 disclosures with quantity data missing for at least some records. We summarize those omissions here.
A chemical disclosure instrument such as FracFocus depends on accurate and complete data. Individual disclosures with poor or missing data can erode the trust of users for the entire system. FracFocus, unfortunately, has many disclosures with missing data. This post is part of Open-FF’s effort to improve FracFocus data integrity and to alert stakeholders to these data weaknesses.
Along with the identity of a chemical used in a fracking operation, the quantity is critical information. The range of material quantities reported in FracFocus stretches from less than one pound to over a million pounds. When quantity data is missing, a reader of a disclosure won’t be able to tell if, say, a hydrochloric acid record is for one pound or one million pounds – the difference between a small jar’s worth and many tanker trucks full.
Murphy Exploration and Production USA omissions
We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, Murphy Exploration and Production USA. As of this date, we’ve found 328 disclosures with at least one omission, or 38.8% of all of the company’s disclosures (example). The following chart shows when those fracking jobs occurred and how many records were missing data.
Compared to other companies
More than half of all operators reporting to FracFocus had NO records with quantity omissions. In the following graph, each point is an operator. The companies without omissions are not on this graph. Just 25% of companies are above the horizontal line, and 25% to the right of the vertical line. Murphy Exploration and Production USA is highlighted in orange. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Murphy Exploration and Production USA is part of that club.
Which states?
These flawed disclosures are for fracking jobs exclusively in Texas.
Which chemicals?
The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Murphy Exploration and Production USA were affected.
| CASRN | Name | Molecular structure | Number of missing values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7446-09-5 | Sulfur dioxide |  | 212 |
| 68648-87-3 | Benzene, C10-16-alkyl derivatives | no image | 203 |
| 7664-93-9 | Sulfuric acid |  | 203 |
| 14808-60-7 | Quartz (SiO2) | no image | 71 |
| 7757-82-6 | Sodium sulfate anhydrous |  | 67 |
| 64-19-7 | Acetic acid |  | 22 |
| 66455-14-9 | Alcohols, C12-13, ethoxylated | no image | 18 |
| 100-44-7 | Benzyl chloride |  | 17 |
| 112926-00-8 | Hydrated silica | no image | 16 |
| 12125-02-9 | Ammonium chloride |  | 16 |
| 9005-65-6 | Polysorbate 80 | no image | 16 |
| 1338-43-8 | Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate |  | 16 |
| 68551-12-2 | Alcohols, C12-16, ethoxylated | no image | 16 |
| 121888-68-4 | Bentonite, benzyl(hydrogenated tallow alkyl) dimethylammonium stearate complex | no image | 16 |
| 107-21-1 | Ethylene glycol |  | 15 |
| 68155-20-4 | Tall-oil fatty acid DEA | no image | 14 |
| 10043-35-3 | Boric acid (H3BO3) |  | 13 |
| 1310-58-3 | Potassium hydroxide |  | 13 |
| 68527-49-1 | Thiourea, polymer with formaldehyde and 1-phenylethanone | no image | 10 |
| 68951-67-7 | Alcohols, C14-15, ethoxylated | no image | 9 |
| 16481-66-6 | Potassium metaborate (KBO2) hydrate(3:4) |  | 7 |
| 67-56-1 | Methanol |  | 6 |
| 1310-73-2 | Sodium hydroxide |  | 6 |
| 50-00-0 | Formaldehyde |  | 6 |
| 1319-33-1 | Ulexite | no image | 5 |
| 12174-11-7 | Attapulgite | no image | 5 |
| 584-08-7 | Potassium carbonate |  | 5 |
| 590-29-4 | Formic acid, potassium salt |  | 4 |
| 1303-96-4 | Borax (B4Na2O7.10H2O) | no image | 4 |
| 111-76-2 | 2-Butoxyethanol |  | 4 |
| 62649-23-4 | Poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid), partial sodium salt | no image | 3 |
| 7783-20-2 | Ammonium sulfate |  | 3 |
| 68439-57-6 | Sulfonic acids, C14-16-alkane hydroxy and C14-16-alkene, sodium salts | no image | 3 |
| 67254-71-1 | Alcohols, C10-12, ethoxylated | no image | 3 |
| 63800-37-3 | Sepiolite | no image | 3 |
| 95-63-6 | 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene |  | 3 |
| 56449-46-8 | Poly(oxyethylene) oleyl ester | no image | 3 |
| 141-43-5 | Ethanolamine |  | 2 |
| 91-20-3 | Naphthalene |  | 2 |
| 64-17-5 | Ethanol |  | 2 |
| 104-76-7 | 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol |  | 2 |
| 64742-47-8 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light | no image | 2 |
| 7647-01-0 | Hydrochloric acid |  | 2 |
| 127087-87-0 | Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl),alpha-(4-nonylphenyl)-omega-hydroxy-,branched | no image | 2 |
| 13709-94-9 | Potassium metaborate |  | 2 |
| 67-64-1 | Acetone |  | 2 |
| 68-12-2 | N,N-Dimethylformamide |  | 2 |
| 107-19-7 | Propargyl alcohol |  | 2 |
| 108-32-7 | Propylene carbonate |  | 1 |
| 61790-12-3 | Fatty acids, tall-oil | no image | 1 |
| 7775-27-1 | Sodium persulfate |  | 1 |
| 14807-96-6 | Talc | no image | 1 |
| 30965-85-6 | Dodecene-1-sulfonic acid, sodium salt |  | 1 |
| 78330-21-9 | Alcohols, C11-14-isoalcohols, C13-rich, ethoxylated | no image | 1 |
| 9002-84-0 | Polytetrafluoroethylene |  | 1 |
| 7631-86-9 | Silica |  | 1 |
| 128824-30-6 | 1-Dodecanesulfonic acid, hydroxy-, sodium salt | no image | 1 |
| 68953-58-2 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, salts with bentonite | no image | 1 |
| 112-41-4 | 1-Dodecene |  | 1 |
| 1302-76-7 | Kyanite (Al2O(SiO4)) | no image | 1 |
| 68442-77-3 | 2-Butenediamide, (2E)-, N,N’-bis[2-(4,5-dihydro-2-nortall-oil alkyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl] derivs. | no image | 1 |
| 27176-87-0 | Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid |  | 1 |
| 67-63-0 | Isopropanol |  | 1 |
| 1309-37-1 | Iron oxide (Fe2O3) |  | 1 |
| 1344-28-1 | Alumina | no image | 1 |
| 13463-67-7 | Titanium dioxide |  | 1 |
| 64-02-8 | Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt |  | 1 |
| 1941-30-6 | Tetrapropylammonium bromide |  | 1 |
The numbers in this post reflect a FracFocus data set downloaded in January 2025. For more up-to-date statistics, visit this link.
Endnotes
- Open-FF is a public service project, independent of FracFocus, that aims to foster better understanding of chemical uses of the fracking industry by organizing and analyzing chemical disclosures of FracFocus. To see company-specific information about Murphy Exploration and Production USA, visit this page.
- The values that are omitted are in the “PercentHFJob” data field which represents the percentage (by mass) of the total fracking fluid. This number is usually less that 1% but because the mass of the total fluid is enormous – often greater that 100 million pounds – the actual mass of the chemical component can be quite large.
- The numbers in this post reflect a FracFocus data set downloaded in January 2025. For more up-to-date statistics, visit this link.
- Title image credit: Becky Mansfield, modified by author
- Chemical images credit: EPA Comptox