Exxon Bets New Fracking Methods Can Double Oil From Shale Wells

Exxon Mobil Corp. is betting that a better way to frack will double the amount of oil it can pump from shale fields.

“There’s just a lot of oil being left in the ground,” Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said Thursday at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions conference. “Fracking’s been around for a really long time, but the science of fracking is not well understood.”

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the process of blasting water, sand and chemicals underground to break apart rock and keep it propped open for oil to flow out. Though the technology gave rise to the ...