By Eric Rosenbaum  01/27/12 - 02:58 PM EST

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Among oil majors, it's supposed to be a good thing right now to not be in the position of Exxon Mobil(XOM_)NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- 

With natural gas prices at historic lows, Exxon Mobil is being forced to constantly defend its $41 billion acquisition of shale driller XTO Energy.

Be careful what you wish for as an oil major, though.

The flip side of concern about the North America shale play mergers and acquisitions craze is that some oil majors aren't doing enough to get into the shale before it's too late.

This is a complaint lodged against Chevron(CVX_), which acquired Atlas Energy for $4 billion and gained access to the Marcellus and Utica shale regions, but hasn't expanded enough throughout the North American shale opportunities, according to critics.

Low natural gas prices may present strategic opportunities for Chevron to enter shale regions -- the Haynesville, Barnett or Fayetteville -- that make sense with its long-term plans, and that are in areas where the current economics are stressing independent exploration and production companies. There also may be opportunities in the true "frontiers" of shale drilling, areas that have not yet been successfully explored and as a result still have low acreage values but high potential reward.

The issue of Chevron doing more to tap the shale was on the minds of analysts and investorswhen the company reported its quarterly results on Friday, a disappointing miss marred by high expenses and lower earnings.

One analyst on the conference call with Chevron CEO John Watson referred to the "glaring hole" for Chevron being "U.S. shale and liquids shale."

Chevron was also challenged on the issue of shale buying relative to President Obama's State of the Union address, in which Obama gave his broadest endorsement for natural gas drilling yet.

Chevron was reminded of the political dimensions of the shale issue and that it's the second largest energy company in America. The president has now highlighted the need for investment in the fracking industry and the benefits including job creation.

Watson suggested that Chevron isn't done buying into the shale. However, the Chevron CEO stressed that its playbook hasn't changed: It won't overpay and it won't enter into the kinds of joint ventures that leave it beholden to another E&P company as primary operator.

More... http://www.thestreet.com/story/11387607/1/amid-shale-ma-craze-chevr...

(Page 2 has an interesting take on Chesapeake)