Exxon Subsidiary Pays $8 Million for Well Blowout, Methane Leaks

An ExxonMobil Corp. private subsidiary agreed to pay $8 million in a settlement filed Tuesday after a well blowout in Ohio leaked methane gas for nearly a month.

XTO Energy Inc. allegedly improperly designed and constructed a natural gas well and failed to monitor the well’s pressure, which resulted in a blowout that ultimately emitted 60,000 tons of methane in 20 days, the US government said in a joint complaint and consent decree filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

The settlement comes over six years after the blowout. XTO paid $1 million to the ...