Heating oil down on demand weakness, strong dollar

24 March 2010

Published by Neil Brunskill

Heating oil prices slumped in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (March 24th), tracking crude lower amid weak demand conditions and a rising dollar.

The greenback touched a ten-month high against the euro in trading this morning as the single currency suffered from speculation that the EU will fail to achieve a strong resolution to support Greece's ailing economy.

"When people are concerned about Greece, they are also concerned about the economic health of Europe and consequently oil demand," said Tony Nunan, a risk manager with Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Corp, speaking to Reuters.

Meanwhile, a report published by the American Petroleum Institute yesterday continued to weigh on crude and heating oil in the Asian trading session this morning as investors reacted to unexpectedly weak demand.

The group recorded a 7.5 million-barrel rise in crude inventories last week, more than five times the forecast put forward by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Click here for a home heating oil quote