Breathtaking

Calling the recent pace of oil and gas producer merger activity “breathtaking,” Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services (S&P) weighed in with the reasons for the robust deal activity.

The cash market took something of a breather Tuesday followingthe breathtaking uprising that began the week. Several pointscontinued to rise but by decidedly smaller amounts than on Monday.Flat to slightly higher was the general rule, but Rockies numberswere falling as supply outages neared an end and mild weather inthe Western U.S. continued to depress demand. Malin and theSouthern California border also fell by small amounts.