Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator Talisman Energy USA published 134 disclosures with quantity data missing for at least some records. We summarize those omissions here.1
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.
Talisman Energy USA Inc. omissions
We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, Talisman Energy USA Inc.. As of this date, we’ve found 134 disclosures with at least one omission, or 52.3% 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. Talisman Energy USA Inc. is highlighted in orange. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Talisman Energy 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 |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 82 |
| Texas | 52 |
Which chemicals?
The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Talisman Energy USA Inc. were affected.
| CASRN | Name | Molecular structure | Number of missing values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1338-43-8 | Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate |  | 111 |
| 79-06-1 | Acrylamide |  | 87 |
| 9004-96-0 | Poly(oxyethylene) monoleate |  | 52 |
| 10604-69-0 | Ammonium acrylate |  | 52 |
| 84133-50-6 | Alcohols, C12-14-secondary, ethoxylated | no image | 52 |
| 26100-47-0 | Ammonium acrylate-acrylamide copolymer | no image | 52 |
| 61723-83-9 | Polyoxyethylene sorbitol tetraoleate | no image | 52 |
| 67-63-0 | Isopropanol |  | 52 |
| 9004-67-5 | Methyl cellulose | no image | 44 |
| 9000-30-0 | alpha-D-Galactopyrano-beta-D-mannopyranan | no image | 44 |
| 63148-62-9 | Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me | no image | 44 |
| 61790-12-3 | Fatty acids, tall-oil | no image | 44 |
| 1319-33-1 | Ulexite | no image | 44 |
| 111-76-2 | 2-Butoxyethanol |  | 39 |
| 108-32-7 | Propylene carbonate |  | 33 |
| 68990-47-6 | Fatty acids, tall-oil, reaction products with diethylenetriamine, maleic anhydride, tetraethylenepentamine and triethylenetetramine | no image | 32 |
| 71011-25-1 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, benzyl(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethylammonium salt with bentonite | no image | 32 |
| 78330-21-9 | Alcohols, C11-14-isoalcohols, C13-rich, ethoxylated | no image | 32 |
| 629-11-8 | 1,6-Hexanediol |  | 15 |
| 64742-47-8 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light | no image | 5 |
| 68953-58-2 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, salts with bentonite | no image | 5 |
| 26266-58-0 | Sorbitan trioleate | no image | 5 |
| 104-76-7 | 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol |  | 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 Talisman Energy 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
- All molecular structure images courtesy of the US EPA, except where noted. ↩︎
One thought on “Talisman Energy USA: Omissions of quantity data”