Eagle & Beagle

Williams Partners last week announced that it plans to contribute about $380 million over the next couple of years to help fund a venture aimed at meeting producer needs in the Utica Shale formation in Ohio. Alan Armstrong, CEO of Williams Partners' general partner, labeled the Utica “one of the fastest growing resource plays in North America.”

The firm last week also asked regulators for permission to extend its Transco pipeline to deliver natural gas to growing areas of Virginia and North Carolina, a $298 million project.

Traders liked the moves, pushing WPZ units up 7.1 percent over the past five days. The units closed Friday at $49.33.

Shares of the company, a subsidiary of The Williams Cos. Inc., posted their strongest one-week gain in more than a year.

Beagle

Our beagle is facing a couple of challenges, but this Tulsa company has dealt with adversity before.

Syntroleum, which is seeking to commercialize its method of producing fuel from greases, fats and other nonpetroleum things, saw its stock price decline 11.3 percent last week. That represented just a 4-cent decline, but dropped the price to a meager 36 cents a share.