Oil Prices Slip on Product Builds, Stronger Dollar

The price of crude lost 0.8 percent to close at $68.67 a barrel and the price of heating oil fell by 1.7 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report
Evening projection (for Thursday’s average retail heating oil price per gallon): DOWN $0.03

Oil prices ended the day slightly below yesterday’s closing positions after a volatile trading day today, pulled down by large increases in US stockpiles of gasoline and distillates and a strengthening dollar.  Inventory data for US stockpiles of petroleum products released today by the Energy Information Administration showed massive increases in gasoline and distillate inventories, which eventually outweighed a significant drawdown in crude stocks.  Violence in Nigeria continued to stoke concerns of supply disruption, but was also overshadowed by inventory data and a rising US dollar.

HEAT USA price experts were happy to see prices end lower after seesaw price movements, and predicted a moderate decrease in retail prices would take effect tomorrow.