XTO Energy Drops Southlake Drilling Plans

SOUTHLAKE (AP) - A company owned by Exxon Mobil has dropped plans to drill in a North Texas city where critics raised environmental concerns about the fracking process.

XTO Energy will not drill for gas in Southlake at Milner Ranch, where it had a permit.

Company spokesman Jeff Neu said Tuesday that the project doesn't make financial sense amid recent decisions by Southlake and Keller rejecting two other well sites. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports XTO wanted to connect all three sites to one pipeline.

A judge had issued a temporary restraining order to bar drilling at Milner Ranch. A hearing on a request for a permanent injunction had been set for Wednesday.

Members of Southlake Taxpayers Against Neighborhood Drilling criticized the hydraulic fracturing process used during drilling to break underground rock formations.

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