Water, sand and chemical additives are pumped through these pipes to unlock trillions of cubic feet of natural gas that until recently had been judged unobtainable.

One thing we have is plenty of water! But the addition of XTO does dramatically change the landscape and there is no doubt that the Mako project was one of the catalyst for this acquisition by Exxon.

I also like the following as it applies to development costs:

Even with the big increases in reserves they were logging, expansion plans by XTO and its rivals were limited by the debt they took on to finance these projects that can cost as much as $3 million apiece.

Under Exxon, which earned $45.2 billion last year, that barrier has been obliterated.