Irving-based global oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. is buying Fort Worth-based XTO Energy in a deal valued at $41 billion, with plans to create "a premier upstream organization based in Fort Worth," an Exxon Mobil official told investment analysts in a conference call today.
"Upstream" refers to oil and natural gas exploration and production operations. XTO is one of the nation's largest independent oil and gas producers.
"Our intention is to retain most of the XTO employees companywide," Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers told the Star-Telegram. "XTO employees are very important to this agreement...very critical."
XTO last month said it has approximately 3,300 employees, including about 1,250 in Fort Worth, where it is headquartered downtown and owns several properties.
Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerman made it clear in a conference call with analysts that the company values XTO both for its exceptional expertise in "unconventional" natural gas drilling — including shale gas, tight gas and coalbed methane gas — and for its large U.S. natural gas and oil reserves that range from the gas-rich Barnett Shale in North Texas to the oil-rich Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Montana.
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