Jack Williams, head of Exxon's unconventional unit, XTO Energy, said that the company has drilled a handful of exploration wells in Poland and is preparing to use fracturing techniques to assist in releasing natural gas from dense shale rock.

Exxon engineers have been evaluating pressure data and other geological characteristics from well logs.  Hydraulic fracturing of the wells in Poland, will enable engineers to estimate the size of the discovery.

"The log results look fine, they look encouraging," Williams said. "Until you get in there and frack and get some performance results, you don’t know" how much gas is present.

Exxon’s prospects for unconventional gas in places such as Poland and Germany may turn out to be as profitable as North Texas' Barnett Shale, which has wells with some of the biggest returns in the company’s worldwide portfolio, Williams said.

Source: Forth Worth Star-Telegram