Oil Prices Rise Ahead of Manufacturing Report

As of 8:52 am EDT, the price of crude had increased by 0.2 percent to reach $86.33 a barrel and the price of heating oil had climbed by 0.7 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: Up $0.04
Morning projection (for Tuesday’s average price per gallon): Up $0.02

A report today from the Institute for Supply Management is expected to show that the US manufacturing sector grew last month by its fastest rate in five years, and that expectation of economic growth has pushed oil prices higher. Europe’s manufacturing sector experienced similar growth last month. When companies increase their production of goods they require more fuel, especially distillate fuels (which include heating oil and diesel), so the price of heating oil has climbed by a greater percentage than the price of crude oil so far this morning. The oil spill that continues in the Gulf of Mexico also supports higher oil prices, since it threatens to reduce the supply of oil in the US.

HEAT USA price experts report that if the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico becomes more severe, it could have a greater impact on oil prices. So far today, signs of economic growth have outweighed any concerns about still-abundant global oil supplies.