British Columbia has launched an online registry for oil and natural gas producers to disclose the chemicals in the frac fluid they use.

Since January 1, the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission has required operators to disclose frac fluid components 30 days after the completion of a frac job, through the OGC's online submission portal.

The commission makes the companies' frack fluid reports available to the public on the website, www.fracfocus.ca.

The website is patterned after a similar online fracking fluid disclosure database in the US, FracFocus.org.

Operators must disclose such data as frac date, well location by province and region, well authorization number, operator name, and well name for each well.

For each chemical additive used in fracking fluid, operators must disclose the chemical abstract service number, the maximum ingredient concentration in the additive and the maximum ingredient concentration in the frac fluid.

Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers spokesman Travis Davies applauds the BC government's new disclosure rules.

"The oil industry supports the disclosure of fracking fluid additives," Davies tells Gas Business Briefing.

Davies thinks the new BC disclosure requirements will help reassure the public regarding the environmental safety of shale gas drilling.

Joe Foy, national campaign director for the Vancouver-based Wilderness Committee, has concerns well beyond fracking chemical disclosure.

"People have a right to know the chemicals being pumped into the ground. But . . . does the province of British Columbia really want to go down this road? I don't think we do," Foy says.