A large swath of U.S. demand was taken out of the market as a result of Katrina. The EIA report shows that U.S. demand growth will decline by 40 percent. Overall inventories are still healthy.

The investment dollars are coming into the energy market as people look for a hedge against the Iran worries. The momentum makes reaching $70 inevitable.

There’s too much uncertainty,

Apparently, the immediacy of a surplus trumps geopolitics, for a day or two anyway. The next two days will focus on stockpiles and moderating weather, then, as the weekend approaches, the focus will widen again...

I think we’re in the process of nearing a bottom.

The hangover from the damage done by Ivan is still on everybody’s mind. We’re still in that mode where any bullish news is tremendously bullish even if it’s slight.

The Iran affair will come to the fore as a result of the IAEA meeting. We could be squarely on the road to curtailed Iranian oil production as a result, pushing prices up.

Consumers are unrelenting in their demand for oil in the United States.

Oil at $60 and $70 was predicated on extremely strong economic growth and these hurricanes have had a deleterious effect on the economy.

It has taken a lot of worry out of the forward looking supply situation.