Oil Prices Erase Gains as Optimism Wears Off

The price of crude closed 0.5 percent lower today at $59.52 a barrel and the price of heating rose just 0.3 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

Evening projection (for Wednesday’s average retail heating oil price): NO CHANGE

Stock markets held onto most of their gains today, but oil prices slipped, closing near their opening positions.  Signs that the recession is far from over put a damper on the small rally in oil prices seen this morning.  Tracking of credit card spending showed that consumers bought 4.3 percent less gasoline over the 4th of July holiday this year than they did last year.  New data showed that the US producer price index increased last month, a sign of inflation.

HEAT USA price experts were pleased to see oil prices give back their early gains and predicted retail prices would stay flat tomorrow.