Oil Prices Slip Downward on Economic Woes

The price for a barrel of crude was down 2.4% to $42.63 a barrel as of 9:12 am eastern time this morning and heating oil was down just 0.2% at 9:10 am. Crude had fallen to $41.93 a barrel earlier, but received support from the consulting firm Petrologistics’s report that OPEC nations are meeting reduced production levels, CNBC.com reported.

The story on the markets was still about global recession and weak oil demand this morning, and the residual effects of yesterday’s EIA inventory statistics helped keep prices down. The latest indicator of the global recession came from Britain, which reported that it entered a recession at the end of last year for the first time since 1991.

HEAT USA price experts reported a moderate decline in retail prices following yesterday’s falling price of heating oil on NYMEX.

HEAT USA Price Report
Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: DOWN $0.03 to $0.04
Morning projection (for Monday’s average price per gallon): DOWN $0.02