Oil Prices Stay High on Anticipation of OPEC Cut

The price of crude peaked at $48.83 a barrel today, its highest point since january 7, before closing at $47.14, 3.4% over its opening price.  The price of heating oil tracked the price of crude for most of the day, but dropped off more sharply at day’s end to close 1 percent lower.

OPEC’s unprecedented compliance with the three production cuts made since last September have succeeded in tightening the world oil market and causing significant drawdowns in crude inventories in major oil-consuming nations like the U.S.  Comments in favor of additional production cuts made by several officials from OPEC nations have led investors and analysts to expect those cuts to occur at OPEC’s upcoming meeting in Vienna and send prices higher in coming months.

HEAT USA price experts were happy to revise their prediction of higher retail prices tomorrow to forecast a small price reduction from today’s average price.

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