Heating oil prices continue to rise

4 November 2009

Wholesale heating oil prices moved fractionally higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (November 4th), steadying after strong gains witnessed yesterday.

The headline near-term heating oil contract followed crude oil prices upwards yesterday and closed for the day at $2.073 (€1.40) a gallon, up 2.73 cents.

Gains continued this morning in both heating oil and crude prices, with the market continuing to react to data published by the American Petroleum Institute indicating a recovery in demand for crude.

However, figures showing a decline in oil inventories were problematised by reports of an unexpected rise in gasoline stockpiles, indicating a further weakening in demand for car fuel across domestic, commercial and industrial sectors.

Speaking to Reuters, Tomokazu Amano, an analyst at Mitsubishi Corp Futures & Securities in Tokyo, said that the market is now looking ahead to more expansive inventory figures from the Energy Information Administration due out later today.

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