Mistletoe Heights-XTO/FW Energy Lovefest

Mistletoe Heights is the latest neighborhood association to strike an agreement with Fort Worth Energy and XTO Energy on a customized lease that it will recommend to its residents.

One of the big sticking points on the deal was location of the well. Fort Worth-based XTO agreed to put its drilling rig at least 600 feet north of Rosedale Street. Where's the exact location? That's a little fuzzy.

What's more, check this out from the S-T story:

"Part of the reason that XTO agreed to put the drilling site farther from neighborhood boundaries is because the company intends to extend the horizontal part of the well bore, called the lateral, to at least 6,000 feet, he said. A more common lateral length is 3,000 feet to 3,500 feet.

"Two Barnett Shale producers, affiliated with neither XTO nor Fort Worth Energy, said longer laterals are not so much a technical challenge as is managing the rising risk "and cost of such wells.

The likelihood of drilling problems increases as the lateral lengthens, they said. It is nearly impossible to keep the well bore level. The dips can fill with liquid, temporarily blocking it and causing pressure fluctuations as gas accumulates behind the block and then is suddenly released."

My recommendation: Don't sign.