Exxon Unconventional Chief: We Need To and Will Be Better

As the first year anniversary of the merger between unconventional gas specialist XTO Energy and ExxonMobil approaches, Jack Williams, President of XTO, spoke before an audience at SPE Unconventional Gas Conference in Houston.

Williams commented that the benefits of shale gas development had only begun to be realized, with supply is likely to grow further especially with advances in technology and innovation.

The XTO Chief said that ExxonMobil saw global unconventional resources expanding, and touched on European operations.

In Germany, ExxonMobil has licenses covering several million acres where it is currently drilling and evaluating coal bed methane and shale gas resources. ExxonMobil also is drilling and evaluating shale gas resources in southeastern Poland.  The company is also looking at large coal bed methane and shale gas resources in Ukraine that have not seen much exploration or evaluation.

However, a great part of William’s comments were focused on addressing a “significant” challenge; the social and political issues facing unconventional gas development and “changing public perception of our industry.”

Williams acknowledged there’s been growing skepticism and concern by the general public over unconventional resource development, with opponents moving quickly to secure numerous community, media and political allies in the process.

“A general lack of understanding and familiarity of what we do, coupled with distortion of science and facts by some industry opponents, have made it increasingly difficult and sometimes impossible to conduct operations in some areas.”

Williams said that misinformation on matters ranging for groundwater contamination, spillage and disposal issues; to air emissions and property values have created a challenge for the industry.

“Take, for example, hydraulic fracturing. We think of fracturing as the well stimulation technique that takes less than one week to complete. The public, though, has come to view the term to encompass the entire process of natural gas development. And, even worse, they believe the process is new and untested.”

“We have not done a very good job explaining where and how hydraulic fracturing fits into the shale gas development process, that it’s not a new technology but one that been around for more than 60 years and has been used in more than one million wells.”

"However, when it comes to our messaging on health and safety, we struggle to communicate information regarding industry incidents, such as when fracturing fluid and flowback water have been inadvertently released on the surface due to well bore integrity or water handling issues. We, as an industry, know that none of these incidents were directly related to the actual hydraulic fracturing process,"continued Williams.

But the public believes that hydraulic fracturing is the drilling process. That’s why it’s so vital that we work to avoid these incidents through proper well design and construction techniques, and prudent operational practices.

Williams said that industry must also do a better job communicating with and educating the public, taking a collaborative approach effort among landowners, mineral owners, regulators, and communities.

Williams pointed to measures such as disclosing the ingredients used in hydraulic fracturing fluids via the voluntary registry, FracFocus.org as a step in the right direction.

“Our success as an industry is linked to the success of the communities where we do business. Every time we talk to a councilman, attend a public meeting, or talk to our neighbors, we have to show them that safety, theirs and ours, is of paramount importance. Our employees don’t just work in their community; they and their families live there as well," said Williams.

In concluding, Williams said industry must do all it can to restore the public’s trust and “prove to our neighbors that we can develop these resources in a safe and responsible manner."

For Williams, this is not an option; “Our industry depends on it.”