Exxon-Mobil subsidiary XTO Energy has pulled a series of zoning applications that would’ve allowed for natural gas drilling on two sites in Dallas, the Morning News reports. Back in December the Fort Worth-based company asked for a delay of the applications from the City Plan Commission.
“XTO Energy has withdrawn its zoning application with the city of Dallas as a result of continued uncertainty surrounding local regulations governing gas well drilling,” company spokesman Jeffrey Neu told the paper. “If successful, this project would have provided a boost for the local economy. The city of Dallas would have benefited from royalties and tax revenue on gas produced from these sites.”
In 2008, XTO paid the city more than $14 million for the rights to drill for natural gas at Hensley Field, on the north shore of Mountain Creek Lake; the abandonment of these applications leaves only five remaining natural gas drilling zoning cases — three for Trinity East Energy, and  two by Luminant on private land around North Lake, the paper reports.
