Talisman Energy Inc. is a global, diversified, upstream oil and gas company, headquartered in Canada. Talisman’s three main operating areas are North America, the North Sea and Southeast Asia. Talisman Energy USA is a subsidiary of Talisman Energy with operations in the Marcellus and Eagleford Shales.
Talisman is committed to conducting its business safely, in an ethically, socially, and environmentally responsible manner. We currently disclose, by well location, on our website the chemical ingredient names and concentrations used by our hydraulic fracturing contractors.
Talisman Energy USA supports legislative efforts that facilitate disclosure on a well-by-well basis that includes the identification of additives by name and Chemical Abstract Service Numbers with protection within the limits set forth in federal law for confidential business information. Additionally, our view is that the most accurate way to disclose information on the constituents of hydraulic fracturing fluids is to provide the concentration of each additive and chemical as a percentage of the total sum of all constituents including carrier fluid and proppant. As such, we believe that H.B. 3328, as introduced by Texas State Representative Jim Keffer on March 10, 2011 offers a constructive framework for disclosure, and we support the bill.
As consideration of this bill proceeds, we believe the legislation should incorporate the following principles:
1) Our view is that states are best situated to develop programs related to disclosure. A disclosure regime should build upon existing state and industry voluntary efforts to ensure that operators and services companies do not face duplicative or contradictory requirements both within Texas and across jurisdictional lines.
2) The legislation should ensure that information related to the function of each additive is considered as confidential business information. Protecting this information can aid in providing incentives for the industry to innovate into cleaner and organic additives.
We look forward to working with Chairman Keffer, policy makers, industry, environmental organizations and other stakeholders on this legislation to ensure that the public and regulators have information on additives and chemical constituents used in hydraulic fracturing.
