Earth Equity News

Exxon's Natural Gas Holdings Grow With $31 Billion Deal. By Jad Mouawad, NYTimes, December 14, 2009. "In the biggest energy deal in years, Exxon Mobil said Monday that it agreed to buy XTO Energy, a domestic producer of natural gas, in an all-stock deal valued at $31 billion to increase its holdings in unconventional resources in the United States. The deal includes the assumption of $10 billion in debt. The purchase allows Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, to expand in shale gas, an area that has seen tremendous growth in the last few years. It will give Exxon the equivalent of about 45 trillion cubic feet of natural gas throughout the United States. The acquisition extends Exxon's bet that fossil fuels will remain a critical part of the nation's energy supplies for decades to come. Natural gas is a cleaner-burning fuel than coal, with half the carbon dioxide emissions. For that reason, it is considered as a potential 'bridge fuel' on the lengthy path to a renewable, carbon-free economy. 'XTO is a leading U.S. unconventional natural gas producer, with an outstanding resource base, strong technical expertise and highly skilled employees,' Rex W. Tillerson, Exxon's chief executive, said in a statement... In recent years, energy companies have discovered large reserves of natural gas tightly trapped in shale rocks in Texas, Colorado, and Wisconsin, as well as in the Northeast. The discoveries have led to a gas drilling boom that has greatly expanded domestic resources, while also raising some environmental concerns. The term unconventional resources is applied to a broad category of fuels like shale gas, tar sands and other forms of oil and gas that require sophisticated technology to extract. Unlike traditional oil and gas supplies, which have been declining, reserves of unconventional resources are growing with new discoveries."