Oil Prices Are Flat After Yesterday’s Surge

As of 8:53 am EST, the price of crude was unchanged at $81.51 a barrel and the price of heating oil had inched upward by .10 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: Up $0.08
Morning projection (for Wednesday’s average price per gallon): Down $0.01

Oil prices steadied but have maintained yesterday’s gains. Analysts expect that this week’s inventory reports will show another decline in distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel, due to the cold weather that has hit the US and Europe. This expectation of increasing demand for heating oil supports crude oil and heating oil prices. Continued cold weather could continue to keep prices near current levels, but so far this morning has not been enough to boost oil prices further. Positive manufacturing data and tensions between Russia and Belarus, which potentially threaten Europe’s oil supply, lifted oil prices yesterday but their impact has not carried over to this morning.

HEAT USA price experts report that the combination of cold weather, positive economic data, and geopolitical tension caused yesterday’s surge in oil prices. Oil prices could stumble if one of these supporting factors is removed.