Highlights

Arkansas will begin requiring oil and natural gas producers that usehydraulic fracturing for their wells to disclose the composition of the fluidsthey use for fracking beginning January 15, the state's Oil and Gas Commissionruled late Tuesday afternoon in Little Rock.

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While the new rules require disclosure of the makeup of fracking fluidson a well-by-well basis, producers won't have to disclose the actual chemicalmakeup of proprietary frack treatments, just the "relevant health, safety, andenvironmental data" that a standard Material Safety Data Sheet requires,according to a draft of the rule.

Previously, Arkansas -- home to the Fayetteville Shale, which stretchesacross most of the northern half of the state -- had no rules regarding thedisclosure of components of fracking fluid.

While not required to reveal the exact chemical makeup of certain frackadditives, the new rule requires they be categorized by type: such as acid,biocide or friction reducer. The new rule also requires drillers to disclosethe exact concentration of each compound in the fracking mixture.

Additionally, the new rules also require fracking pressures to be no morethan 80% of the rated capacity of the well bore and well bores be cased 100feet below any fresh water aquifer. If a second fresh water source isdiscovered while the well is being drilled, Arkansas will now require that thebore be re-cemented to another 100 feet below the new fresh water source.

The data on fracking fluids and well designs will be available on AOGC'swebsite for public viewing.

"The chemicals will be will be made available on a well-by-well basis,so if there's a fear that a well has been contaminated, you can look on thislist and see what chemicals were used on the gas well near your house and testfor them," Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission Director Larry Bengal told theArkansas Times Tuesday. "That's the whole purpose."

Arkansas joins Wyoming as the only states that require frack fluiddisclosures on a well-by-well basis. Wyoming's rules, which also protect thetrade secrets behind proprietary compounds, went into effect September 15.

Some drillers in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale, such as Fort Worth-basedRange Resources and Pittsburgh-based Equitable Resources, have begunvoluntarily detailing the makeup of their frack fluids for each new well oncompany websites, listing proprietary compounds by their brand names.

--Bill Holland, bill_holland@platts.com

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