Strong Dollar, Economic Concerns Hold Down Oil Prices

The price of crude lost 2 percent today to close at $70.62 a barrel and the price of heating oil fell by 1.2 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report
Evening projection (for Tuesday’s average retail heating oil price per gallon): DOWN $0.02

A rising dollar and concerns that oil prices might be overinflated to the point of hindering economic recovery drove down oil prices today.  Political unrest in major oil-producing nation Iran following elections there had no effect on oil prices as any supply disruptions would be counteracted by huge crude reserves around the world.  A decline in manufacturing activity in New York State announced by the Federal Reserve today also helped depress oil prices by mitigating expectations of economic recovery in the US.

HEAT USA price experts saw prices move as predicted today and announced that Tuesday’s retail prices would be slightly lower.