National Energy Board Procedures for the Public Disclosure of Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Information

The National Energy Board (NEB) requests that operators regulated under the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act submit information on hydraulic fracturing fluid composition, 30 days after the hydraulic fracturing operation has finished, for disclosure on the FracFocus.ca website.

In order to have hydraulic fracturing fluid composition information disclosed to the public on the FracFocus.ca website, operators are requested to submit the following to the NEB 30 days after the hydraulic fracturing operation has finished:

  1. A Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Product Component Information Disclosure Record [EXCEL 38 KB] (Fluid Component Record) for each well in which hydraulic fracturing was conducted. Upon receipt of the Consent to the Disclosure of Information Related to Hydraulic Fracturing Operations Form (described below), the NEB will post the Fluid Component Record on the FracFocus.ca website.
  2. A Consent to the Disclosure of Information Related to Hydraulic Fracturing Operations [PDF 37 KB] (Consent Form) for the well in which hydraulic fracturing was conducted, only if the privilege period of that well has not expired. (The Consent Form will not be posted on the FracFocus.ca website).

Procedures for Submitting the Fluid Component Record

Operators are requested to:

  1. Download the Fluid Component Record from the National Energy Board website.
  2. Fill out a Fluid Component Record for each well in which hydraulic fracturing was conducted. Please refer to Appendix A for assistance on filling out the Fluid Component Record.
  3. Submit a hard copy and an electronic PDF copy of the Fluid Component Record for the well to the Chief Conservation Officer no later than 30 days after the hydraulic fracturing operation has finished.

The NEB may ask the operator to re-submit the Fluid Component Record in another format to allow for fuller disclosure of the hydraulic fracturing fluid chemicals.

Procedures for Submitting the Consent Form

Paragraphs 101(7)(a) to (c) of the Canada Petroleum Resources Act establish certain privilege periods for well information. Operators are requested to consent to waive the privilege period by submitting the Consent Form for each well in which hydraulic fracturing was conducted and where the well’s privilege period has not expired. Operators are requested to:

  1. Download the Consent Form from the National Energy Board website.
  2. Complete and sign the Consent Form for each well in which hydraulic fracturing was conducted and where the well’s privilege period has not expired.
  3. Submit a hard copy and an electronic PDF copy of the Consent Form for the well with that well’s Fluid Component Record to the Chief Conservation Officer no later than 30 days after the hydraulic fracturing operation has finished.

Appendix A:

Filling Out the Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Product Component Information Disclosure Record

A Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Product Component Information Disclosure Record (Fluid Component Record) is requested for a well in which hydraulic fracturing was conducted on.

Header Information

The header of each Fluid Component Record contains general information about a well:

  1. Fracture Finish Date: The date on which the hydraulic fracturing operation was finished.
  2. Province/Territory: Northwest Territories.
  3. Region: Mackenzie Delta or Mainland NWT.
  4. WID: Well identification number. The WID is a four digit number and is different from the unique well identifier (UWI).
  5. Well Operator Name: Name of the operator of the well.
  6. Well Name: Name of the well which typically includes the operator name and the surface location of the well. The well name does not include the surface latitude and surface longitude.
  7. Surface Latitude: This is the north-south surface coordinate location of the well on the earth in degrees, minutes and seconds.
  8. Surface Longitude: This is the east-west surface coordinate location of the well on the earth in degrees, minutes and seconds.
  9. Latitude/ Longitude Projection: Map projection method, NAD 27 or NAD 83.
  10. Well Classification:  Exploratory, delineation or development well - as defined under subsection 101(1) of the Canada Petroleum Resources Act.
  11. Number of Stages:  The number of completed intervals along the length of a wellbore that were hydraulically fractured in the well.
  12. True Vertical Depth: This is the absolute depth of the well measured from the surface to the deepest point of penetration.
  13. Total Water Volume: This is the total amount of water in cubic metres (m³) used as the carrier fluid for the hydraulic fracturing job. It may include recycled, fresh or saline water.

Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Composition Information

This portion of the Fluid Component Record contains information about the specific ingredients used during the hydraulic fracturing operation.

  1. Trade Name: This is the name of the product designated by the supplier.
  2. Supplier: This is the name of the company that supplied the product (e.g. Schlumberger, Halliburton).
  3. Purpose: This is the function served by the additive (Trade Name) in the fracturing process (e.g. surfactant, biocide, etc.).
  4. Ingredients: This is the name of the chemical ingredient (e.g. Ethanol, Naphthalene etc.). An ingredient chemical family name may be reported for ingredients considered to be confidential business information.'
  5. Chemical Abstract Service or CAS #: This is a number assigned by a division of the American Chemical Society for the purpose of identifying a specific substance. You can learn more about the characteristics of chemicals by searching for name or CAS number on the USEPA National Center for Computational Toxicology website.
  6. Ingredient Percentage in Additive by % Mass: This describes the amount of ingredient within the additive (Trade Name) as a per cent of the total mass of the additive. Please note that because the % Mass of the additive may be expressed in its maximum concentration, the total % Mass of ingredient percentage may exceed 100 per cent.
  7. Ingredient Concentration in HF (Hydraulic fracturing) fluid % by mass: This describes the amount of ingredient as a per cent of the total mass of the HF fluid including carrier fluid and additives. Please note that the total may not equal 100 per cent due to the redaction of proprietary components in accordance with the Trade Secrets provisions of the Federal Hazardous Material Information Review Act.
  8. Comments.
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