Heating oil flat, set for another weekly decline

29 January 2010

Written by Bob Burton

Heating oil prices held steady on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (January 29th), mimicking the inertia in crude prices on the same exchange.

Despite today's price stability, both commodities are set to register weekly losses, with crude futures heading towards the first monthly decline witnessed since July 2009.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services in Sydney, said that the optimism that drove up crude and heating oil prices at the end of the year is waning fast as the demand assumptions underpinning the rally have failed to manifest themselves in higher sales.

"Economies have been running off stimulus packages, not off genuine demand," the analyst commented.

Data published by the Energy Information Administration yesterday showed continued weakness in gasoline and distillate sales, sending crude prices below $74 (€52) a barrel and heating oil towards $1.93 a gallon.

A poll conducted by Bloomberg pointed to further price declines next month as anaemic demand conditions persist.

Click here for a home heating oil quote