Exxon Mobil Corp.'s acquisition of XTO Energy Inc. is the latest sign of a changing of the guard in the U.S. oil patch, as the small companies that led an exploration boom in the past decade start to give way to the international giants. XTO, based in Fort Worth, Texas, was one of dozens of independent producers that pioneered a revolution in the U.S. natural gas industry in recent years. While global companies like Exxon and Chevron Corp. largely stayed on the sidelines, independents like XTO, Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Devon Energy Corp. leased millions of acres of land across the U.S. in search of new sources of gas and, to a lesser extent, oil.
But pumping the gas is proving to be a lot more expensive than finding it, which has led to an increasing number of joint ventures between the independent companies and the major multinational oil players, and with the acquisition announced Monday, an outright company sale. More deals are likely, analysts say, though they suggest that it may be hard to find buyers large enough to absorb the biggest independent companies.....Read the entire article.
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