Oil Prices Drop on Stagnant Demand

As of 9:01 am EST, the price of crude had fallen by 1.17 percent to reach $69.05 a barrel and the price of heating oil had dipped by .10 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: Up $0.01
Morning projection (for Tuesday’s average price per gallon): Down $0.02

The price of crude oil continues to decline, sagging under the weight of bulging inventories of crude and refined oil products. Crude tumbled to below $70 a barrel on Monday morning, but cold weather in the Northeast has prevented the price of heating oil from sustaining similar losses. While cold weather may continue to support higher heating oil prices, the price of crude oil still influences the price of heating oil. If crude oil’s value diminishes further, it will at least limit any rise in the price of heating oil, and could take precedence over factors such as the weather, causing lower heating oil prices.

HEAT USA price experts report that crude oil prices may continue to drop, since there are few indications that global oil demand is poised to recover, but it remains to be seen whether heating oil can stay independent of the price of crude.