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By 2020 exploration and development across the Marcellus Shale could generate more than $6 billion in federal, state and local tax revenue and employ up to 300,000 people across the region, according to Chevron Corp. CEO John Watson.

A single Marcellus Shale well in southwestern Pennsylvania directly adds $7.6 million to the economy, on average, according to a new study released Tuesday.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s oil and gas production volumes had languished before 2010, often in the single digits, as the oil major failed to build a resource base to equal its massive profits. However, that changed last year with the purchase of U.S. shale king XTO Energy Inc. and was proved Thursday when ExxonMobil said its quarterly volumes were up 10% from a year ago.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s oil and gas production volumes had languished before 2010, often in the single digits as the oil major failed to build a resource base to equal its profits. However, that changed last year with the purchase of U.S. shale king XTO Energy Inc. and was proved Thursday when ExxonMobil said its quarterly volumes were up 10% from a year ago.

Thanks to recent upgrades to a compression station in northeastern Pennsylvania, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. increased its Marcellus Shale production 35% in a single day, a sign of how infrastructure bottlenecks in Appalachia are crimping production rates.

A single bill that would change West Virginia’s regulation of Marcellus Shale drilling survived crossover day in the West Virginia legislature Wednesday, while two others failed to make it out of the state’s House of Delegates.

Alberta leaders said Friday they plan to introduce legislation this spring to create a single oil and gas regulatory body.

Energen Resources Corp. has purchased three-year leases for about 17,000 net acres in the Bone Spring and Avalon shale trends in the Permian Basin from various Texas state agencies and other entities for $15.3 million, said parent Energen Corp. Based on 320-acre spacing, the company estimates that the acreage in Reeves, Ward, Loving and Winkler counties offers potential for approximately 50 Bone Spring locations and 50 Avalon Shale locations. The typical Bone Spring well has estimated ultimate recovery of 400,000-500,000 boe, the company said. Energen Resources estimates that drilling and completion costs are approximately $7.5 million per well. It has drilled eight Bone Spring wells in Ward and Winkler counties and participated in another 23 wells. The company announced plans in December to drill another 13 Bone Spring net wells in 2011 and at least one Avalon Shale well. Potential drilling plans on the new leases in 2011 have not been determined.

The Pittsburgh City Council was scheduled to vote Tuesday on an ordinance with questionable legal premises that would prohibit natural gas drilling in the city which is surrounded by the Marcellus Shale.