ExxonMobil completes XTO acquisition

ExxonMobil has completed the acquisition of XTO Energy Inc., creating a new organisation to focus on the global development and production of unconventional resources.

ExxonMobil’s advanced research and development, operational capabilities and financial capacity will combine with the skills and asset base of XTO Energy Inc., which is best known for its production of unconventional gas in the USA.

Rex W Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil, said: “ExxonMobil’s Energy Outlook indicates that gas will grow more rapidly than any other major energy source, given its availability and relatively low carbon profile. We believe gas is the fuel of choice for power generation, producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions than other electrical-generation fuels, such as coal.”

The new organisation will continue to be known as XTO Energy Inc., maintaining its head office in Fort Worth, Texas.

Jack Williams, a former vice president of ExxonMobil Development Company, has been elected president of XTO Energy Inc., while Keith Hutton, formerly XTO’s chief executive officer, is executive vice president of the new organisation.

Williams said: “The new organisation will create the opportunity for more jobs and investment in the development and production of clean-burning natural gas both here in the United States and around the world.”

The agreement received regulatory clearance from the competition authorities in March and was approved by XTO shareholders in June.

XTO’s resource base is the equivalent of 45 trillion cubic feet (around 1.3 trillion cubic metres) of gas and includes shale gas, tight gas, coal bed methane, shale oil and conventional oil and gas production. These will complement ExxonMobil’s holdings in the US, Canada, Germany, Poland, Argentina and Indonesia.