Oil Prices Rise on Winter Storm, Weak Dollar

As of 9:03 am EST, the price of crude had climbed by .68 percent to reach $73.86 a barrel and the price of heating oil had risen by 1.60 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: No Change
Morning projection (for Tuesday’s average price per gallon): Up $0.03

A severe winter storm hit the Northeast this weekend, supporting higher heating oil prices. Snow and cold temperatures look to remain throughout the week in the Northeast, and the price of heating oil has climbed Monday morning as investors expect higher demand for heating oil this week to cut into inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel. Oil prices were further supported by the dollar, which weakened after staying near a three-month high against the euro, making commodities priced in dollars more attractive to holders of other currencies. Tensions between Iran and Iraq, which moved oil prices Friday morning, appear to have eased and are not affecting prices today.

HEAT USA price experts report that continued cold weather will support higher heating oil prices, especially as investors expect that inventory reports will show another large drop in stockpiles of distillates. If the dollar strengthens, that will limit or reverse heating oil’s climb.