Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI), the world’s third-largest oilfield services, plans to disclose all of the chemicals used in fracking. They say it will take several months for the policy to go into effect, as they still need to negotiate with suppliers, customers, etc. and get all their systems up to date.

Hydraulic fracturing pumps water, sand and chemicals underground to fracture rock and allow trapped oil and gas to flow to the wellbore.

The policy change came the same day a US federal advisory committee on natural gas recommended fuller disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, as public acceptance can only be gained by greater disclosure of the chemicals that service companies are injecting into the ground, even if most of those compounds flow right back to the surface.

Baker Hughes believes it is possible to disclose 100 % of the chemical ingredients used without compromising their formulations. The competitors Halliburton, Schlumberger, and BJ Services, are said to think a full listing of the chemicals in the fracking compounds would be giving away trade secrets.

• Baker Hughes Plans to Disclose All Fracking Chemicals,
  David Wethe,
  bloomberg.net 2014.
• FracFocus, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
  The website, managed by the Ground Water Protection Council and Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, two organizations whose missions both revolve around conservation and environmental protection, provides factual information concerning hydraulic fracturing and groundwater protection. It is not intended to argue either for or against the use of hydraulic fracturing as a technology. It is also not intended to provide a scientific analysis of risk associated with hydraulic fracturing.