Heating oil run continues on Nymex

18 November 2009

Heating oil prices rose for the third consecutive day during electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) this morning (November 18th), supported by improved demand prospects.

The commodity rose strongly yesterday after the publication of the latest demand figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API), with the headline Nymex contract settling at $2.058 (£1.37), up more than two cents on Monday's closing price.

Further gains were witnessed during the Asian trading session this morning, with traders and analysts optimistic that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will demonstrate a further strengthening in demand when it publishes its weekly inventory figures later today.

The EIA data is generally considered more extensive than the API figures as the former measures movements in stocks of all major petroleum products, including crude, gasoline, propane and distillates such as heating oil.

Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires, Toby Hassall, head of research at CWA Global Markets, said the upward price movements came in defiance of a strengthening dollar, a common cause of falling oil prices.

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