Chevron Corp. on Thursday completed its $4.3 billion acquisition of Pittsburgh-based Atlas Energy Inc., just one day after the Atlas shareholders had approved the deal, the companies said.

“The assets provide Chevron with a solid position in the prolific Marcellus Shale, located in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and complement our global position in developing unconventional gas resources,” said Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland.

Atlas Pipeline Holdings LP will now operate under the name Atlas Energy LP and will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AHD. Concurrently with the acquisition, AHD acquired natural gas producing assets from Atlas, as well as its syndicated drilling partnership business.

Chevron, which had eschewed domestic shale plays in favor of the deepwater, in November offered to buy shale-savvy Atlas (see Shale Daily, Nov. 10, 2010). Atlas shareholders overwhelmingly approved the deal Wednesday (see Shale Daily, Feb. 17).

India’s Reliance Industries Ltd., which entered into a joint venture partnership with Atlas in the Marcellus play last year, had protested the merger and suggested it might make a counterproposal (see Daily GPI, Feb. 4).