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The ExxonMobil buyout included XTO’s rights to 47,000 acres of a lucrative section of the [[Marcellus Shale]]. It was reported that the purchase of XTO could be nullified if Congress made hydraulic fracturing illegal, according to language in the contract. Rep. [[Ed Markey]], D-Mass., chairman of the energy and environment subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said that he planned hearings in the next year to examine industry practices, including "some of these unconventional extraction techniques." But the practice has continued.<ref>[http://www.oleantimesherald.com/articles/2009/12/22/news/doc4b30f3f586149216762283.txt] "Local economies look for boost from natural gas exploration in region’s Marcellus shale," Adam Voster, Ocean Times Herald, December 22, 2009 </ref>
In July 2010, XTO finalized a merger agreement with Ellora Energy, which added 46,000 acres to XTO's reserves in the Haynesville and Bossier plays of east Texas. In December 2010, XTO purchased 150,000 acres from Petrohawk in the Fayetteville Shale Trend in Arkansas, bringing XTO’s total acreage in that play to 560,000 acres, and over 10,000 wells.<ref name= jw>Jack Williams, [http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/news_speeches_20110614_jwilliams.aspx "Shale Gas: The Keys to Unlocking its Full Potential: Speech by XTO President Jack Williams," ExxonMobil Website, June 14, 2011.</ref>
In June 2011, XTO completed a merger with Pittsburgh-based Phillips Resources, Inc. and TWP Inc., which added a combined 317,000 acres of leasehold in the Marcellus Shale, bringing XTO's ownership to over 700,000 acres in the second largest gas field in the world. The largest gas field, according to XTO president Jack Williams, is in the North field offshore Qatar, and "ExxonMobil is playing a key role developing that resource also."<ref name= jw/>
==Organizational affiliations==
