• Welcome to the Hydraulic Fracturing and Fracture Fluid Information Site. This website is a project of the BC Oil & Gas Commission and is intended to provide objective information on Hydraulic Fracturing. Fracturing Fluids, Groundwater and Surface water protection and related oil and gas activities in Canada.

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  • This technique uses a specially blended liquid which is pumped into a well under extreme pressure causing cracks in rock formations underground. These cracks in the rock then allow oil and natural gas to flow, increasing resource production.

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  • Casing is the multiple layers of steel and cement inside the drilled hole used to protect water aquifers. The specific length, thickness, strength and composition of casing is regulated at the state level.

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Groundwater Protection: Priority Number One

Oil and natural gas producers have stringent requirements for how wells must be completed. The genesis of these requirements is water safety.

Casing is the first line of defense used to protect freshwater aquifers.

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FAQs
  • What is a Hazardous Material Information Review Act Claim Exemption?

    Within Canada, any supplier who is required, pursuant to the provisions of the Hazardous Products Act, to disclose the chemical identity or concentration of any ingredient of a controlled product may, if the supplier considers such information to be confidential business information, claim an exemption from the requirement to disclose that information by filing a claim for exemption under the Hazardous Material Information Review Act.

  • I know there are wells in my area that have been fractured, but when I search for them I get no results. Why?

    The most likely reasons are that either the wells were fractured before January 1, 2012 or they have not yet been entered into the system. Only wells fractured after Jan. 1st, 2012 will be entered into the system and since the uploading of records began only recently it will take some time before a large number of wells is available. Furthermore, permit holders in B.C. have 30 days from the time their completion operations have finished to submit their records. Please keep checking back as wells are added on a daily basis.

  • How is an ingredient reported that is the subject of a claim exemption through the Hazardous Material Information Review Act?

    For any ingredient that is subject to a claim for exemption through Hazardous Material Information Review Act, the registry number must be provided in the Comments.  Furthermore, the generic name of the ingredient must also be provided, where possible.  Otherwise, the ingredient may be listed as ‘Undisclosed’.  If the subject of the claim is solely for the chemical identity of one or more ingredients, then the CAS number(s) is/are left blank for each ingredient subject to a claim, but the maximum concentration within the additive is provided, along with the maximum concentration within the fracture fluid for each ingredient.  If the subject of the claim is to protect both the chemical identity and the concentration of one or more ingredients, then the CAS number(s) is/are left blank along with the concentration(s) within the additive for each ingredient subject to a claim.  If possible, concentration of the ingredient within the fracture fluid can also be provided, but may also be left blank.

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Canada's first hydraulic fracturing registry now online

British Columbia is the first province in Canada to enforce the public disclosure of ingredients used for hydraulic fracturing.

FracFocus.ca - the registry which provides a transparent accounting of B.C. hydraulic fracturing operations - includes a database of the ingredients used to support natural gas extraction, and extensive content about the regulations and safety procedures governing industry activity.