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The combination of continued warm to hot forecasts in many areas and the return of industrial load from the greater declines of a low-demand holiday weekend generated strong price increases nearly across the board Tuesday. Generally hot weather is expected to continue at least into mid-July in much of the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.

Marathon Oil Corp. has agreed to pay $3.5 billion to acquire the Eagle Ford Shale assets of Hilcorp Resources Holdings LP. Along with other transactions expected to close by the end of this year, Marathon’s Eagle Ford position is expected to more than double to 285,000 net acres, the company said.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) generated nearly $1 million at an auction Tuesday from the sale of oil and gas leases on about 13,820 acres in Wyoming.

Onshore independent natural gas and oil producers supported almost 400,000 direct workers and generated $263 billion in gross economic output in 2010, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) said Monday.

Gas producers know they have to spend money to make money, and Louisiana shale patch players are hoping their state’s lawmakers remember that maxim if a repeal of Louisiana’s horizontal well severance tax investment incentive comes up for their consideration.

As promised, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett did not include a severance tax on Marcellus Shale production in his first budget.

Better-than-expected performance in the Marcellus Shale helped Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.’s shareholders kick the stock almost 13% higher on Wednesday.

Lows slipping into the low to mid teens Tuesday and often accompanied by snow generated higher numbers, including some triple-digit spikes in the Northeast and a few other locations Monday. However, reflecting some weather moderation and easing of supply tightness since late last week, most of the market recorded losses.

Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) and 40 other state organizations have sent a letter to Gov.-elect Tom Corbett asking him to maintain the moratorium signed last year by Gov. Ed Rendell that prevents new leases for deep natural gas drilling in the state’s forests.