Creeps

As his own state creeps toward allowing drilling off its shores, Sen. Frank Wagner (R-VA) called the nation’s energy woes a “winning issue” for politicians seeking to curry favor with voters.

Prices achieved broad-based small gains Tuesday largely based onan initially firm screen and lingering cool weather in the West,but were retreating in the late going as futures eventually movedlower.

Most cash points rose 1 to 5 cents yesterday on the strength ofa futures rally fired by a bullish American Gas Association storagereport. Traders were in agreement that prices were flat toWednesday until the futures screen picked up in the late morning.

The overall tone of the cash market remained flat Thursday, buta growing number of points were recording tiny decreases. Thetouches of softness came even as an eastbound cold front reachedthe nation’s midsection, reminding regions that had beenexperiencing record seasonal warmth recently that winter isn’tquite over yet. One source speculated that prices may be finallystarting to crack under the strain of having maintained theirpositions during a long period of no fundamentals support. Even thearrival of some for-real weather fundamentals may not be enough toprovide support, he said.