Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Although energy companies continue to hydrofrack, and with impressive results,
they have not won the public's confidence. At the heart of this lies the Halliburton
Loophole, allowing drillers to keep certain fracking fluids secret. The International
Energy Agency suggests that for oil and gas producers to make peace with their ad-
versaries and move forward, they should take common-sense steps: improve trans-
parency about the chemicals they use; engage communities better; monitor wells
more effectively; toughen rules on well design and surface spills; manage water
supplies carefully; and reduce methane emissions. The IEA reckons that imple-
menting such measures would add just 7 percent to total well costs, and would go
a long way toward pacifying critics.
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The hydrofracking industry is extremely competitive, and there appears to be
dissent among drillers over how much to cooperate with one another and what
steps to take to ameliorate public concern. Yet some in the industry seem inclined
to heed the IEA's advice, and have advocated for greater disclosure. Chesapeake
Energy, which once compared keeping the chemical makeup of its fracking fluids
secret to “Coke protecting its syrup formula,” now says that disclosure would pro-
mote meaningful dialogue. “We as an industry need to demystify,” Chesapeake's
then-CEO, Aubrey McClendon, acknowledged to an industry conference in 2012,
“and be very upfront about what we are doing, disclose the chemicals that we are
using, search for alternatives to some of the chemicals.”
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In 2011, FracFocus.org—a national registry to which operators can voluntarily
post details about the ingredients of their fracking fluids—was launched by the
Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (an association of states), and the
Groundwater Protection Council (a group of state water officials), with backing
from energy companies. Of 18 states that require drillers to disclose their chem-
database—which has over 35,000 records—was initially plagued by incorrect
entries and was designed to search just one well at a time. Activists said that the
definition of “trade secret” should be clarified, and that FracFocus should include
historical information. In late 2012, FracFocus changed the way it collects data
from companies, and said it intends to create an easier-to-use and more compre-
hensive database; the following year, the website made it possible for regulators to
search and aggregate information for the first time.
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