The inventory numbers were pretty tame so the market is continuing with its overall downtrend tend. Distillate demand should be weak. There is no cold weather out there and unless you are in North Dakota it looks like that should continue for the next two weeks.

I thought it went really well. It was a pretty open course. There were not so many turns and it was not so steep. That made it pretty tight.

Any resolution to the gasoline problem won't occur in the short term. There's enough crude oil around. The problem is with refining and specifications.

It looked like we would be experiencing below-normal temperatures through mid-January but now it appears that the pattern will end by the end of the month. That has taken the steam out of natural gas and oil as well.

Prices will continue to wander higher as confirmation of the damage comes in. It will be real tough to get everything back up and running quickly. Refiners that were left undamaged by the storm may not be able to operate at their full potential because of all the missing crude oil.

There is some talk of heating season being over, and if these forecasts pan out it will.