>The mining bureau making this a requirement, at this stage and with no public release?, I think not. The Bureau will stay out of a private enterprise business unless it absolutely needs to intervene.

The Mining Act has been around since 1993. And yes, the Mining Bureau will stay out of it unless the parties cannot come to an agreement amongst themselves first.

>So, Why unitize?

So you agree then.

>in this way they are free to go whereever they want and may end up spending less in the end

Yep. Unitization is more efficient and economical.

>Falcon thinks that the best chances of having sweet spots and good producing wells are in the MOL-XOM jv lands ....MOL and XOM think that the best ground is going to be in the FO-MOL-XOM jv.....and by unitizing they end up with a larger share of this ground (this is possible)

That is another advantage, which I think I mentioned in an earlier post. The play becomes one big 'pie' without internal borders to get in the way. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

"While, by definition, some participating interest owners will receive more than their proportionate value and some will receive less, even the losers on the formula finally chosen will become net winners, because overall production will hopefully be substantially increased over the levels that would have been achieved from non-unitized production"

>10 to 40 acre spacing, surely you are not suggesting that there is something to worry about here, like the MOL-XOM JV stealing gas from the FO-XOM-MOL JV, at that distance it would not happen.

10 acre spacing from the borderlines is fine, but without unitization, there can be problems if one party drills too close to another party's land, even in a tight gas play.

"Hydraulic fracturing, a modern drilling technique used in the Barnett Shale as well as other areas of Texas and the U.S., involves horizontal drilling and high pressure water to create fractures and cracks in shale and other tight gas formations. These fractures increase production by acting as conduits or highways which drain natural gas back to the well bore. The problem – the fractures can extend 1,500 to 2,000 feet or more and cross property and lease lines thereby draining neighboring leases. "

Yes, that is one of the advantages of unitization. It becomes one big 'pie' without borders. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

""While, by definition, some participating interest owners will receive more than their proportionate value and some will receive less, even the losers on the formula finally chosen will become net winners, because overall production will hopefully be substantially increased over the levels that would have been achieved from non-unitized production"