Frigid Temps Boost Gas Prices

"Ultimately, we think that the cartel's success or failure regarding its cuts will be gauged by what happens to crude stocks," writes Edward Meir, an analyst with commodity broker Man Financial, in a daily market brief. New data is expected from the Energy Information Administration Wednesday.

In the meantime he says markets do not seem "overly concerned" with inventory issues.

As for stocks making headlines in the energy complex, Goldman Sachs upgraded shares of BP(BP Quote) to buy from neutral, helping lift the shares 0.2%.

Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Chevron(CVX Quote) to sell from hold. In addition, CIBC World Markets upped its price target on the stock to $82 a share from $73.

The net result seemed to be a marginal win for the bears, with the stock trading lower by 0.4% despite the strong energy prices.

Calyon Securities was busy downgrading shares of gas companies. Williams (WMB Quote) was dinged down to an add rating from a buy, while El Paso(EP Quote) got lowered to neutral from buy. Williams was recently down 0.3% and El Paso by 1.5%.

Among the major producers, shares of Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote) and ConocoPhillips(COP Quote) were down 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.

The energy exchange-traded funds were mixed, with the U.S. Oil(USO Quote) fund off 0.1% and the iPath Goldman Sachs Crude Oil Index(OIL Quote) up 0.2% in recent action.