Heating oil may slip as refineries perform maintenance

3 September 2010

Written by John King

Heating oil and crude futures may fall on the New York Mercantile Exchange next week as refiners use a lull in seasonal demand to carry out maintenance work, according to a Bloomberg poll.

Of the 34 analysts participating in the poll, 14 predicted that prices will fall next week, while ten expect prices to rise and the remaining ten anticipate little change.

Tim Evans, an analyst at Citi Futures Perspective in New York, said the commodities market once more has its eye on weak demand conditions in the US.

"Refineries are cutting back on operating rates, which is going to reduce demand for crude oil. Also, US domestic production has been quietly rising, it’s now at the highest level since 2004," he said.

This morning (September 3rd), both crude and heating oil registered marginal losses ahead of an unemployment report expected to show further weakness in the US job market, with crude trading below $75 a barrel, while heating oil stood at $2.0596 a gallon.

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