From the Dallas Morning News
Exxon Mobil plans to move 1,600 jobs out of Fort Worth between 2018 and 2020, a company spokeswoman said Friday.
XTO Energy, an Exxon subsidiary, will relocate to its parent company’s new campus north of Houston. Exxon’s corporate headquarters is in Irving but many employees work at the Houston area location.
“XTO is an important part of Exxon Mobil,” said Suann Guthrie, an Exxon spokeswoman. “By co-locating, we’re better able to collaborate and share expertise and experience.”
She said 1,200 employees will leave Fort Worth in mid-2018, and another 400 will move in 2020. About 350 employees, including some working on Barnett Shale operations, will remain in the Fort Worth area.
“This is isn’t a reflection of how we feel about Fort Worth,” Guthrie said.
She said XTO will continue to maintain strong ties with Fort Worth, even after the company leaves its downtown headquarters in the W.T. Waggoner building.
XTO has long been a prominent civic donor in Fort Worth, giving money to charities, schools and cultural institutions. There is an XTO Energy Gallery at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. And the company has been the title sponsor of the city’s Christmas holiday Parade of Lights.
“XTO Energy, a home-grown legacy company, has been an outstanding industry leader, a generous community supporter and excellent steward of historic buildings in downtown Fort Worth for decades,” said Bill Thornton, president and CEO, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, in a written statement. “It’s hard to hear the announcement of their move. In time, we expect to fill downtown office space, but it will be difficult to replace the civic partnership we have enjoyed with XTO and its employees.”
In recent years, XTO was also at the center of controversy over man-made earthquakes connected to natural gas drilling.
A Southern Methodist University study concluded that a 2013 earthquake in Azle was likely cause by two waste water disposal wells, one owned by XTO. The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, concluded that the earthquake was naturally occurring.
XTO started as Cross Timbers Oil in 1986 and was co-founded by Bob Simpson, now one of the owners of the Texas Rangers. Eventually, the company switched directions toward gas exploration and was a major player in the Barnett Shale boom of the mid-2000s.
In 2010, Exxon bought XTO for $35 billion. At the time of the purchase, XTO was the nation’s largest natural gas producer.
