Oil Prices Slide on Euro’s Slump

As of 8:56 am EDT, the price of crude had dropped by 2.3 percent to reach $68.25 a barrel and the price of heating oil had fallen by 2.5 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: Down $0.01
Morning projection (for Friday’s average price per gallon): Down $0.05

Europe’s currency continued to trade at or near a four-year low against the dollar, causing large declines in the prices of oil and other commodities traded in dollars. With the dollar’s rise relative to the euro, crude oil and heating oil become more expensive for traders who hold the currency. A strong dollar also diminishes the appeal of oil as a hedge against inflation. Weekly inventory reports had little impact on oil prices, despite an unexpected drop in distillate inventories, which include heating oil and diesel. Currency prices, rather than supply and demand, are driving the oil markets.

HEAT USA price experts report that Europe’s debt troubles are unlikely to be resolved quickly or easily, and weakness in the euro could continue to weigh down oil prices in the near term.