The big oil companies are getting pretty interested in all of this Marcellus Shale natural gas that Pennsylvania is giving away for free. Minor incidents are already happening all over the state. With big oil getting involved, what could go wrong?

ExxonMobil buys local Marcellus firm for $1.69 billion

Thursday, June 09, 2011

By Erich Schwartzel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

ExxonMobil Corp. has bolstered its position in the Marcellus Shale play with a billion-dollar acquisition, paying $1.69 billion for Warrendale-based Philips Resources and TWP Inc.

The acquisitions add 317,000 acres to the Texas-based company's Marcellus portfolio. The energy company had paid $41 billion in December 2009 for Houston-based XTO Energy for an initial foray into the natural gas reserve that underlies much of Western Pennsylvania.

Philips Resources and TWP Inc. have around 200 employees and have participated in the drilling of more than 50 Marcellus wells.

The acquisition is yet another example of major energy companies entering the Marcellus play through major acquisitions. In May 2010, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's largest oil company, paid $4.7 billion for East Resources, a Marshall-based energy producer. And in February, Chevron of San Ramon, Calif., paid $4.3 billion for Atlas Energy of Moon