f The Evolution of Optimization in the Barnett Shale

The Fort Worth Basin in north Texas covers approximately 34 million acres. Along its eastern flank, 2 million acres have been defined as the Barnett core play area. ExxonMobil's affiliate, XTO Energy, develops and manages approximately 235,000 acres throughout this core region. As one of the first shale gas plays to begin a large scale development, initial industry practices in the Barnett were often guided by uncalibrated conventional assumptions that hindered cost effective depletion programs.