Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator Chevron USA Inc. 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.
Chevron USA Inc. omissions
We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, Chevron USA Inc.. As of this date, we’ve found 328 disclosures with at least one omission, or 13.3% 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. Chevron USA Inc. is highlighted in orange. Although Chevron is not above the horizontal line, it’s number of flawed records is among the largest of the 1,600 companies reporting. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Chevron USA Inc. is part of that club.
Which states?
These flawed disclosures are for fracking jobs in the following states.
| State | number of disclosures with omissions |
|---|---|
| Texas | 176 |
| Pennsylvania | 77 |
| New Mexico | 69 |
| West Virginia | 5 |
| California | 1 |
Which chemicals?
The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Chevron USA Inc. were affected.
| CASRN | Name | Molecular structure | Number of missing values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7783-20-2 | Ammonium sulfate |  | 63 |
| 1310-73-2 | Sodium hydroxide |  | 45 |
| 27306-79-2 | Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), alpha-tetradecyl-omega-hydroxy- | no image | 43 |
| 9002-92-0 | Polyoxyethylene dodecyl mono ether |  | 43 |
| 5064-31-3 | Glycine, N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-, trisodium salt |  | 42 |
| 9043-30-5 | Polyoxyethylene isotridecyl ether |  | 40 |
| 150-38-9 | Trisodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate |  | 38 |
| 139-33-3 | Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, disodium salt |  | 38 |
| 61791-26-2 | PEG-10 Hydrogenated tallow amine | no image | 37 |
| 541-02-6 | Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane |  | 31 |
| 540-97-6 | Dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane |  | 31 |
| 67762-90-7 | Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me, reaction products with silica | no image | 31 |
| 556-67-2 | Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane |  | 31 |
| 7758-98-7 | Copper sulfate |  | 31 |
| 63148-62-9 | Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me | no image | 30 |
| 104-55-2 | 3-Phenylprop-2-enal |  | 28 |
| 75-21-8 | Ethylene oxide |  | 27 |
| 64-17-5 | Ethanol |  | 27 |
| 64-19-7 | Acetic acid |  | 27 |
| 123-91-1 | 1,4-Dioxane |  | 27 |
| 2836-32-0 | Glycolic acid sodium salt |  | 23 |
| 143-18-0 | Potassium oleate |  | 21 |
| 75-56-9 | (+/-)-1,2-Propylene oxide |  | 21 |
| 127-08-2 | Potassium acetate |  | 21 |
| 112-80-1 | Oleic acid |  | 21 |
| 7631-86-9 | Silica |  | 18 |
| 26183-52-8 | Polyethylene glycol monodecyl ether | no image | 17 |
| 67-63-0 | Isopropanol |  | 16 |
| 9004-62-0 | Hydroxyethylcellulose | no image | 16 |
| 79-06-1 | Acrylamide |  | 15 |
| 68551-12-2 | Alcohols, C12-16, ethoxylated | no image | 14 |
| 14808-60-7 | Quartz (SiO2) | no image | 14 |
| 107-19-7 | Propargyl alcohol |  | 14 |
| 111-76-2 | 2-Butoxyethanol |  | 12 |
| 64742-47-8 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light | no image | 12 |
| 50-00-0 | Formaldehyde |  | 12 |
| 62-56-6 | Thiourea |  | 12 |
| 72480-70-7 | Tar bases, quinoline derivatives, benzyl chloride-quaternized | no image | 11 |
| 67-56-1 | Methanol |  | 10 |
| 9000-30-0 | alpha-D-Galactopyrano-beta-D-mannopyranan | no image | 10 |
| 18016-19-8 | Sodium maleate (1:x) | no image | 9 |
| 113221-69-5 | 2-Propenoic acid, ethyl ester, polymer with ethenyl acetate and 2,5-furandione, hydrolyzed | no image | 9 |
| 111560-38-4 | 2-Propenoic acid, ethyl ester, polymer with ethenyl acetate and 2,5-furandione, hydrolyzed, sodium salt | no image | 9 |
| 7647-01-0 | Hydrochloric acid |  | 9 |
| 870-72-4 | Sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate |  | 7 |
| 68-12-2 | N,N-Dimethylformamide |  | 6 |
| 68002-97-1 | Ethoxylated C10-16 alcohols | no image | 6 |
| 68188-40-9 | Fatty acids, tall oil, reaction products with acetophenone, formaldehyde and thiourea | no image | 6 |
| 68412-54-4 | Polyoxyethylene branched-C9-alkylphenol | no image | 6 |
| 68585-34-2 | Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), alpha-sulfo-omega-hydroxy-, C10-16-alkyl ethers, sodium salts | no image | 6 |
| 7727-54-0 | Diammonium peroxydisulfate |  | 6 |
| 77-92-9 | Citric acid |  | 6 |
| 7664-38-2 | Phosphoric acid |  | 6 |
| 7446-09-5 | Sulfur dioxide |  | 6 |
| 75-07-0 | Acetaldehyde |  | 6 |
| 7631-90-5 | Sodium bisulfite |  | 6 |
| 78-40-0 | Triethyl phosphate |  | 6 |
| 10222-01-2 | 2,2-Dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamide |  | 6 |
| 8007-43-0 | Sorbitan sesquioleate | no image | 6 |
| 111-30-8 | Glutaraldehyde |  | 6 |
| 1327-36-2 | Aluminatesilicate | no image | 6 |
| 111-87-5 | 1-Octanol |  | 6 |
| 1302-74-5 | Corundum (Aluminum oxide) | no image | 6 |
| 9014-01-1 | Subtilisin | no image | 6 |
| 112-30-1 | 1-Decanol |  | 6 |
| 107-21-1 | Ethylene glycol |  | 5 |
| 3252-43-5 | Dibromoacetonitrile |  | 5 |
| 25322-68-3 | Polyethylene glycol |  | 5 |
| 7647-15-6 | Sodium bromide |  | 5 |
| 68424-85-1 | C12-16-Alkylbenzyldimethylammonium chlorides |  | 5 |
| 7173-51-5 | Didecyldimethylammonium chloride |  | 4 |
| 66455-14-9 | Alcohols, C12-13, ethoxylated | no image | 3 |
| 64-18-6 | Formic acid |  | 2 |
| 7757-82-6 | Sodium sulfate anhydrous |  | 2 |
| 1310-58-3 | Potassium hydroxide |  | 2 |
| 141-43-5 | Ethanolamine |  | 2 |
| 8001-79-4 | Castor oil | no image | 2 |
| 78330-21-9 | Alcohols, C11-14-isoalcohols, C13-rich, ethoxylated | no image | 2 |
| 9004-32-4 | Edifas B | no image | 1 |
| 9003-35-4 | Bakelite | no image | 1 |
| 9003-11-6 | Poloxalene | no image | 1 |
| 9016-88-0 | 1,4-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, polymer with 1,2-ethanediol and .alpha.-hydro-.omega.-hydroxypoly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) | no image | 1 |
| 7758-19-2 | Sodium chlorite |  | 1 |
| 100-97-0 | Methenamine |  | 1 |
| 7447-40-7 | Potassium chloride |  | 1 |
| 72283-36-4 | Oxirane, 2-methyl-, polymer with oxirane, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate, methyl ether | no image | 1 |
| 10377-60-3 | Magnesium nitrate |  | 1 |
| 111-42-2 | Diethanolamine |  | 1 |
| 1113-55-9 | 2-Bromo-3-nitrilopropionamide |  | 1 |
| 112-53-8 | 1-Dodecanol |  | 1 |
| 12125-02-9 | Ammonium chloride |  | 1 |
| 121888-68-4 | Bentonite, benzyl(hydrogenated tallow alkyl) dimethylammonium stearate complex | no image | 1 |
| 13598-36-2 | Phosphonic acid |  | 1 |
| 136793-29-8 | 2-Propenoic acid, 2-methyl-, polymer with sodium 2-methyl-2-[(1-oxo-2-propen-1-yl)amino]-1-propanesulfonate (1:1) | no image | 1 |
| 39322-78-6 | Potassium lauryl phosphate | no image | 1 |
| 52-51-7 | Bronopol |  | 1 |
| 557-04-0 | Magnesium stearate |  | 1 |
| 57-13-6 | Urea |  | 1 |
| 57-55-6 | 1,2-Propylene glycol |  | 1 |
| 584-08-7 | Potassium carbonate |  | 1 |
| 631-61-8 | Ammonium acetate |  | 1 |
| 10043-52-4 | Calcium chloride |  | 1 |
| 67-48-1 | 2-Hydroxy-N,N,N-trimethylethan-1-aminium chloride |  | 1 |
| 68909-18-2 | 1-(Phenylmethyl)pyridinium Et Me derivs., chlorides | no image | 1 |
| 69418-26-4 | Polyquaternium-33 | no image | 1 |
| 71-48-7 | Cobalt(II) acetate |  | 1 |
| 71050-62-9 | 2-Propenoic acid, polymer with sodium phosphinate | no image | 1 |
| 915-67-3 | Amaranth |  | 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 Chevron USA Inc., 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