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Rockies natural gas pricing “continues to strengthen on a relative basis,” and new pipelines scheduled for completion this year will provide even more market access, Ultra Petroleum Corp. CEO Michael Watford said during a first quarter earnings conference call.

Shale gas plays and significant technological advances that allow their development helped drive the latest assessment of U.S. natural gas reserves by the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) to a new high.

Two multi-state organizations, with the help of oil and gas companies, are preparing to launch a website Monday that will provide the public with a comprehensive list of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a favorable environmental assessment of Dominion Transmission Inc.’s Appalachian Gateway Project, which would provide additional capacity to deliver a mix of southwestern Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale gas and West Virginia conventional gas to market [CP10-448]. “Conventional production of natural gas is increasing in the Appalachian region of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The region is also experiencing a strong emergence of non-conventional production from coalbed methane and Marcellus Shale gas. This production growth and new supplies from other regions, like the Rockies, are competing for gas pipeline capacity within the Appalachian region,” said Dominion Transmission, a subsidiary of Richmond, VA-based Dominion Resources. The project calls for the construction of about 110 miles of 20-, 24- and 30-inch diameter pipeline between West Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as four compressor stations, adding about 17,000 hp. It would enable Dominion Transmission to transport an additional 484,260 Dth/d of gas to markets in the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States. The pipeline would deliver the gas to an interconnect with Texas Eastern Transmission at Oakford in Delmont, PA. Construction is expected to get under way this year, with in-service targeted for September 2012.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Thursday completed the sale of its Fayetteville Shale properties to a subsidiary of Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd.

FERC Thursday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Dominion Transmission Inc.’s Appalachian Gateway Project, which would provide additional capacity to deliver a mix of southwestern Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale gas and West Virginia conventional gas to market.

A unit of S&T Bank has formed an alliance with Oklahoma-based Heritage Trust Co. to provide financial services for landowners who lease their property to natural gas drilling companies in the Marcellus Shale. S&T Wealth Management services will include lease and lease renewal offers and negotiation; negotiation of surface damage rights; and verification, monitoring and administration of royalty payments. Indiana, PA-based S&T Bank operates 51 offices in 10 counties in western and central Pennsylvania, including Allegheny, Butler and Westmoreland counties.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has asked state legislators, who this week are working through an extended budget session, to come up with an additional $2 million to pay for additional oil and gas inspectors at the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Ironically, the oil and natural gas industry’s recent focus on shale plays, which was made possible by technological breakthroughs, has prompted more recent innovations, according to Jonathan Lewis, Halliburton senior vice president, drilling & evaluation.