Heating oil falls ahead of EIA demand data

13 July 2010

Written by Bob Burton

Heating oil prices were lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (July 13th), with traders cautious about upcoming inventories data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Although analysts polled by Reuters said crude inventories probably fell last week, the majority are bracing themselves for a rise in distillate stocks that will reduce the size of the overall decline.

Crude prices jumped at the end of last week after the EIA recorded a five million-barrel decline in crude inventories for the previous week, with production disruptions caused by Hurricane Alex said to be the cause.

Keichi Sano, general manager of research at SCM Securities in Tokyo, commented: "We shall expect more hurricanes this season, so at this point we should pay more attention to the level of stockpiles.

Gasoline demand also supported crude prices earlier in the month as the US geared up for the Independence Day holidays, which mark the peak of the summer driving season