Halliburton unveils website with fracking details

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1526804120101115?sp=true

Halliburton unveils website with fracking details

By Ayesha Rascoe
Mon Nov 15, 2010 8:36pm GMT

* Halliburton outlines chemicals in 3 fracking products

* EPA issued subpoena for Halliburton on fracking fluids

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Halliburton (HAL.N: Quote) unveiled a new website on Monday offering some details about the mix of chemicals used in a natural gas drilling technique, as the company attempts to allay public concerns about the impact of the practice on drinking water.

The new website outlines the make-up and concentration of the chemicals contained in three of its products commonly used for hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania.
(Website: http://www.halliburton.com/hydraulicfracturing )

“We believe this effort represents an important and substantive contribution to the broader long-term imperative of transparency,” David Adams, a Halliburton vice president, said in a statement.

The move follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision last week to subpoena Halliburton to force the company to turn over information about the chemicals it produces for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. [ID:nN0983184]

But Halliburton said the website is not a response to EPA’s actions or meant to satisfy the agency’s demands.

“That was not the intent. What we’ve done is try to provide information in a way that the public can understand,” a Halliburton spokeswoman said on a conference call.

Fracking is a process that injects a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into rock formations to stimulate oil and natural gas production. [ID:nN18229665]

Although it has been around for decades, use of the drilling practice has exploded in recent years as companies use it to extract unconventional yet abundant reserves of shale gas.

The expansion of shale gas drilling in states such as Pennsylvania has raised ire of some homeowners in areas near gas development, who complain the drilling has contaminated their drinking water.

Environmental groups have called for more federal oversight of the practice and complete disclosure of all the chemicals involved.

Energy companies argue that the practice is safe, pointing out that it is done thousands of feet below ground, much deeper than most water sources.

In response to public concerns, some companies have begun attempting to make information about the chemicals used in fracking more accessible to the public.

Halliburton said its website, which does not list the chemicals used in individual well sites, will expand in the future to include details about fracking fluids for every state where the company’s services are used. (Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)