Oil Prices Climb as Dollar Retreats

At 8:37 am EDT, the price of crude had gained 2.3 percent to reach $72.27 and the price of heating oil had dropped by 2.6 percent.

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

A call from Russian president Dmitry Medvedev for a new supranational reserve currency to replace the US dollar drove down the dollar’s value today, erasing major gains posted yesterday. The falling value of the dollar sent oil prices shooting upward. Medvedev’s comment was somewhat surprising, as it appears to contradict a statement made by Russia’s finance minister yesterday, who said that the dollar would likely remain the world’s leading currency.

HEAT USA price experts were forced to adjust their prediction for the rest of the week, forecasting large gains in retail heating oil prices today. They stated that Wednesday’s prices would be primarily affected by EIA inventory data that will be released tomorrow morning.