Oil Prices Slip Back After Crude Breaks $70 Barrier

At 9:48 am EDT, the price for a barrel of crude had fallen by 1.4 percent to $67.85 and the price of heating oil had dropped 1.3 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report
Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: NO CHANGE
Morning projection (for Monday’s average retail price per gallon): UP $0.01

New US unemployment data lifted oil prices this morning, pushing the price of crude above $70 a barrel for the first time since in seven months.  The Department of Labor said that employers cut 345,000 jobs last month, the fewest since September of 2008 and many fewer than analysts had forecast.  Oil’s gains were short-lived however, as fundamental concerns slowed the rally and crude and heating oil prices began to retreat around 9:30 am EDT.

HEAT USA price experts confirmed yesterday evening’s prediction of unchanged retail heating oil prices from Thursday morning.  They predicted small price increases to take effect Monday morning.