Oil Prices Drop as US Economy Shrinks

At 8:56 am EDT, the price of crude had slipped by 1 percent to $66.28 a barrel and the price of heating oil had lost 1.2 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: UP $0.04 from yesterday at 12pm
Morning projection (for Monday’s price per gallon): DOWN $0.03

Oil prices dropped slightly this morning in response to fresh economic data that showed the US GDP shrank by 0.1 percent in the second quarter of 2009. The contraction is smaller than the 1.2 percent figure expected by economists, but still put a damper on hopes of economic recovery coming soon in the world’s biggest oil consumer. This morning’s falling prices follow a huge five percent gain in crude oil prices yesterday that was stimulated by unemployment numbers that showed the number of US workers remaining on jobless rolls was at its lowest in three months. Despite yesterday’s big gains, oil prices are poised to post their first monthly losses since January, as world demand remains weak and stockpiles of petroleum prducts are still brimming.

HEAT USA price experts reported that yesterday’s gains by crude and heating oil prices on NYMEX resulted in a larger than expected increase in heating oil prices today, on top of Thursday’s midday price increase. Retail heating oil prices are a full 10 cents higher than they were 24 hours ago.