Oil Prices Stay Down After Builds in Inventories

As of 9:02 am EST, the price of crude had dipped by .11 percent to reach $79.56 a barrel and the price of heating oil had fallen by .54 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

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

Heating oil prices stayed down this morning after declining for three days, as economic optimism fought back some of the effects of yesterday’s EIA inventory report. EIA data showed surprising builds in stockpiles of oil after weeks of declining inventories. The EIA’s findings undercut hopes that recent cold weather had been enough to get rid of the overhang of oil supply. Supplies of distillate, a category of fuel that includes heating oil, increased by 1.35 million barrels and supplies of crude oil rose by 3.7 million barrels. Those figures pushed down oil prices yesterday and continue to pressure prices today, but some analysts point to cold weather in Europe as a supporting factor even as warmer temperatures reach the US Northeast.

HEAT USA price experts report that changing temperatures in the US Northeast continue to lead heating oil prices. While frigid weather will return this winter, the relatively mild temperatures forecast for the next week could depress oil prices.