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2016 Disclosing the facts: transparency and risk in hydraulic fracturing

Disclosing the Facts 2016 is the fifth in a series of investor reports intended to promote improved operating practices among oil and gas companies engaged in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is performed to release oil and gas from what is currently known as “unconventional resources”—shale and other geological formations from which oil and gas are difficult to retrieve without fracturing.
2016 Disclosing the facts: transparency and risk in hydraulic fracturing



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


Disclosing the Facts 2016 is the fifth in a series of investor reports intended to promote improved operating practices among oil and gas companies engaged in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is performed to release oil and gas from what is currently known as “unconventional resources”—shale and other geological formations from which oil and gas are difficult to retrieve without fracturing. From a production perspective, these formations are anything but unconventional; the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that in 2015 “unconventional resources” yielded approximately two-thirds of the natural gas and roughly half of the oil produced in the United States.

These operations often use toxic chemicals and high volumes of water, release significant levels of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and have the potential to adversely impact local communities when not properly managed. These issues, in turn, can translate into financial risk to companies and shareholders in the form of fines, regulations, lawsuits, and threats to companies’ social license to operate.

Following the maxim of “what gets measured, gets managed”, this report encourages oil and gas companies to increase disclosure about their use of current best practices to minimize the environmental risks and community impacts of their “fracking” activities. Review of disclosed management practices and associated key performance indicators is the primary means by which investors gauge how companies are managing the business risks associated with their environmental and community impacts.

This 2016 scorecard benchmarks the public disclosures of 28 companies on 43 key performance indicators. It distinguishes companies disclosing more information about practices and impacts from those disclosing less. The scorecard assesses five areas of environmental, social, and governance metrics, emphasizing, on a play-by-play basis, quantitative disclosures in: (1) toxic chemicals; (2) water and waste management; (3) air emissions; (4) community impacts; and (5) management accountability. The scorecard relies solely on publicly available information that companies provide on their websites, in corporate SEC postings, or in other reports linked from their websites. The report focuses on “play-by-play” disclosure, as distinct from reporting at an aggregate level such as company- or country-wide. “Play-by-play” is shorthand for localized reporting, which is appropriate since health and environmental impacts and social license controversies are usually localized. However, in addition to facilitating understanding of local stakeholder relations, localized reporting is important because it offers insight into how company systems for managing risks and impacts are functioning in practice.

This year, the report card has been compiled amidst a continuing dramatic contraction of well drilling and completion activities and enormous financial write-offs. As reported by Baker Hughes, the number of drilling rigs dropped to 476 in March 2016 from a peak of 1,931 in late 2014. Nearly 100,000 jobs linked to the oil and gas sector have been lost in the United States, bankruptcies have multiplied, and companies are now focusing on their most profitable areas rather than expanding into new frontiers.

Despite the sharp downturn from the pell-mell growth of the prior ten years, a core group of companies within the industry has maintained and enhanced disclosures of their practices for managing the environmental risks and community impacts of their operations. While the number of leading scorers has grown, the majority of the oil and gas sector is still leaving investors in the dark about their risk management practices.



To download the full report, please click here.

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