Oil Prices Rise on Weak Dollar, Reduced Inventories

As of 9:20 am EDT, the price of crude had climbed .48 percent to reach $71.22 a barrel and the price of heating oil rose .83 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: Up $0.03
Morning projection (for Thursday’s average price per gallon): Up $0.04

Oil prices ended lower than their midday peak, but still climbed from Tuesday’s starting point. A weak dollar and a strong stock market boosted oil prices, despite lingering concerns over low demand. Crude and heating oil continued their rise Wednesday morning after the API’s inventory report showed that crude stockpiles declined by 254,000 barrels and distillate stockpiles, which include heating oil, fell by 2.9 million barrels. The API’s results countered predictions of another rise in crude and heating oil inventories, and will give a lift to the prices of those commodities. Investors now await Wednesday morning’s EIA report to see if it confirms or contradicts the API report.

HEAT USA price experts report that heating oil’s recent gains have come despite weak demand, as investors turned to crude as a hedge against a weak dollar and anticipated signs of economic recovery. If the EIA confirms the API’s findings that demand has increased and cut into inventories, heating oil prices will stay on their upward course.