Heating oil prices continue to climb

4 January 2010

Heating oil prices continued to climb in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (January 4th), supported by seasonal demand and supply concerns.

The early gains extend a rally witnessed in both commodities towards the end of 2009, with the cold snap in the US driving up demand for fuels.

On Monday, the first day of trading of 2010, both crude and heating oil rose after traders revealed that Russia had halted oil supplies to oil refineries in Belarus, raising concerns about a repeat of the gas dispute which destabilised energy supply and prices throughout Europe in 2007.

Clarence Chu, an oil options trader at Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore, told Reuters: "The Russia oil exports issue is not a big concern at the moment but it's still adding to the market's bullish sentiments."

Meanwhile, the cold snap in the US also provided support for both crude and heating oil, with the former breaching the $80-a-barrel mark for the first time since November during trading this morning.

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