Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday said it plans to exit the Pinedale and Haynesville dry gas plays while adding acreage in the Marcellus and Utica shales in Pennsylvania, continuing its strategy of divesting large US natural gas assets in some plays, while adding assets in other plays to its portfolio. Shell announced two separate transactions in a statement Thursday. In one deal with Ultra Petroleum, Shell will acquire 155,000 net acres in the Marcellus and Utica shales in Pennsylvania and receive a cash payment of $925 million from Ultra in exchange for 100% of Shell’s Pinedale Anticline field assets in western Wyoming, including producing leases and associated gathering and processing contracts. In a separate agreement with Dallas-based Vine Oil & Gas and its partner Blackstone, Shell agreed to sell 100% of its Haynesville assets in northern Louisiana — including gas-producing properties and associated field facilities and infrastructure — for […]