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Another severe winter storm on Wednesday began extending its icy claws through the Bakken Shale and into the Midcontinent producing areas, bringing snow, sleet and ice that was expected to reach the Permian Basin by Thursday and then move as far south as Central Texas, weather forecasters said.

Louisiana may be losing millions of dollars in revenue because of an inadequate system for collecting oil and gas severance taxes, according to an audit by a state official.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Tuesday said it plans to hold an oil and natural gas lease sale in March for portions of the eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the first sale to be held in the offshore area in five years.

Just one week after a Thanksgiving winter blast upended some oil and natural gas production operations in Texas, winter storm Cleon made its debut in the Upper Plains on Tuesday and has begun to sweep through the Midcontinent, dropping temperatures in some areas as low as 25 degrees below zero.

A Pennsylvania lawmaker has introduced a pair of bills designed to prevent the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from using unmarked vehicles and video surveillance at oil and gas work sites.

A valve leak that occurred last Friday at a water injection well in Bottineau County, ND, four miles northwest of Maxbass, was reported Monday to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), oil and gas division. A DMR spokesperson said initial data from Denbury Onshore LLC indicated approximately 50 bbl of oil and 300 bbl of brine were released and recovered on the Fossum B3 water injection well. All fluids were contained to the well site, according to Denbury. The oil and gas division sent a state inspector to the site on Monday.

Natural gas scheduled for delivery Wednesday rose 2 cents on average in Tuesday’s trading, but the nominal rise masked greater market strength. If volatile points in the Northeast showing multi-dollar declines are subtracted from the figures, the overall gain comes in at 8 cents.

A sustained blast of icy weather across Texas last week put a halt to exploration and production (E&P) activity in the Permian Basin, Barnett and Eagle Ford shales, with Pioneer Natural Resources Co. indicating it could be weeks before the full impact is determined.

December bidweek prices showed hefty double-digit gains throughout the country, with NGI’s National Average for the month jumping 24 cents from November to $3.77. Only a single individual point, PG&E Citygate, posted a loss, and advances of double-digits and in some cases, multi-dollars, were registered.