Heating oil flat as traders await EIA data

28 July 2010

Written by Bob Burton

Heating oil prices were relatively flat this morning (July 28th), trading around $2.00 a barrel as European markets opened.

Following a report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showing unexpectedly low demand for crude last week, traders were this morning awaiting for a corroboration of the data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The EIA figures, which are considered more robust than the industry-funded report, will be published later today.

Despite API figures suggesting crude inventories rose by 3.1 million barrels last week, analysts polled by Bloomberg expect that the EIA data may show a decline in crude stocks, although gasoline inventories are expected to rise.

Uncertainty about US demand put pressure on both crude and heating oil early in the session, but signs of growth in China helped to support the commodities, as traders anticipated that demand for the fuels may rise in China in the weeks to come.