When the snarky analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Securities Inc. pored over the XTO Energy announced acquisition of Southwestern Energy Fayetteville acreage (see E&P A&D News), they determined "somebody's math isn't right." XTO pins the deal at 55,000 acres, which the analysts calculate as 500 wells equals 1 trillion cubic feet in reserves at 2 billion estimated per well. Meanwhile, Southwestern reports 8,000 wells, but only 9.5 trillion potential. "We're guessing Southwestern's conservative nature gives us resource potential upside for several years to come. Hello 15 Tcf?"

Howdy, Pennsylvania. Discussing activity in the Marcellus shale, IHS Inc. senior product manager ...