Oil Prices Steady After Weeklong Rise

As of 8:50 am EDT, the price of crude had lifted .07 percent to reach 75.23 a barrel and the price of heating oil inched up .35 percent.

HEAT USA Price Report

Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: Up $0.02
Morning projection (for Friday’s average price per gallon): Up $0.03

Oil prices have largely stabilized this morning after a weeklong climb. A weak dollar supports commodities across the board and investors expect economic recovery, expectations buoyed by the Dow Jones industrial average’s rise over 10,000 points. Yesterday afternoon’s API report showed a drawdown in crude oil and gasoline inventories, but stockpiles of crude and refined products (including heating oil) remain at such high levels that analysts worry that higher oil prices aren’t in line with fundamentals. Oil demand remains weak at the moment, and could prevent oil prices from holding their gains. Investors await the EIA inventory report, due out Thursday morning, for a clearer picture of supply and demand.

HEAT USA price experts report that the crude and heating oil price rally of the past week has been led by market factors rather than fundamentals. While economic optimism and a weak dollar will continue to exert upward pressure on oil prices, an assessment of oil demand will have a large influence on whether or not oil prices hold at or above their current levels.