KJ, as ExxonMobil said it is going to be difficult to supply all the natural gas that the globe is going to need in the future. Especially given how such developing countries as China and India are trying to convert more of their energy needs to natural gas.
ExxonMobil has been in the LNG business since the early 70's and the vast majority of their output is targeted for non-US markets. Generally any LNG sold outside of the US will receive a significantly higher price than sales to the US market so it makes good business sense to supply the US market with North American gas production.
By the way, LNG is not exactly that cheap to produce and the shale gas plays may actually be lower cost supply.
Caliente, the application of XTO's experience and expertise to shale gas resources in Canada, Europe and other international locations. Hopefully this facilitates a quicker transition to lower GHG fuels.
Also, provides deeper pockets to the development of XTO's gas and oil resources in the US.
The challenge will be for ExxonMobil to retain XTO's technical staff.