Williams Production Co. has withdrawn a request to drill up to 15 natural gas wells in Double Oak, company and town officials said.

The company notified the town by e-mail Friday morning that it was withdrawing a request to rezone land near the corner of FM407 and Simmons Road to allow gas drilling “due to economic conditions,” Town Secretary Charlotte Allen said.

A Town Council vote had been expected Tuesday. The Planning and Zoning Commission had already endorsed the rezoning with conditions meant to address concerns over public health, safety, road damage and other issues.

Williams has about 400 acres of land under lease for gas drilling in Double Oak and hoped to use the site to start accessing some of those minerals through horizontal drilling, company officials have said.

Williams spokesman Kelly Swan declined to comment Friday on the change of plans.

In a letter to leaseholders posted to the company’s website, williamsinthebarnett.com, landman Chris Dorsey said new geological information showed the project was no longer profitable.

In recent days, the company discovered breaks in the gas formation near Double Oak that would have required shorter-than-expected “drilling laterals,” or the length a drill bit travels horizontally to reach the gas, Dorsey wrote. Longer laterals can produce more gas than shorter ones, he said.

“In a stronger commodity price environment, shorter laterals can still produce attractive returns,” Dorsey wrote. “However, the price of natural gas has been quickly declining as we’ve gone through the permitting process, making the nature of our project uneconomic at this time.”

Some of the mineral leases are scheduled to expire in October, and Williams has decided not to renew them, he said.

Dorsey said the company had enjoyed a “productive dialogue” with town leaders and thought the rezoning would have been approved.

A public hearing on the issue drew a large crowd to Crossroads Bible Church on Aug. 16.

Supporters, including many mineral owners who stood to profit from the drilling, said the company met and exceeded the town’s standards and that the wells would mean royalty payments for Double Oak residents and increased tax revenue for the town.

Opponents said they feared the drilling would lower property values and bring increased noise, truck traffic and air pollution. Others said they worried about water depletion and pollution from the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals underground to break up rock and free gas.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.