Oil Rises on Improved Consumer Confidence; Crude Hits New 6-Month High

The price of crude gained 1.2 percent today to close at $62.45 a barrel and the price of heating oil rose by 0.4 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report
Evening projection (for Wednesday’s average retail heating oil price per gallon): UP $0.01

The price of crude hit a fresh 2009 high point of $62.50 today before retreating slightly as an increase in US consumer confidence boosted stock markets, which in turn lifted oil futures.  Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi stated that he expected oil prices to reach $75 per barrel between the third and fourth quarters of this year, which also supported prices.  Al-Naimi will be meeting with other OPEC members in Vienna on Thursday, where the member nations will most likely decide to leave production levels unchanged.  An attack on a Chevron pipeline in the Niger Delta also lent support to oil prices, as oil supplies from Nigeria appear to be increasingly unstable.

HEAT USA price experts were incorrect in their morning prediction of slightly lower prices tomorrow, instead projecting a small increase in tomorrow’s retail prices.