Oil Prices Tumble After OPEC Meeting Ends in With No Production Cuts

Saturday’s unofficial OPEC meeting in Cairo resulted in no new plans to cut production, driving oil prices down sharply this morning.  The price for a barrel of crude had fallen 7% and the price for a gallon of heating oil had dropped by 5% on NYMEX as of 9:30 am eastern time.

Some analysts expected the organization to announce new production cuts in response to rapidly deflating demand for petroleum around the world, especially because October’s production cut of 1.5 million barrels a day has had little effect on prices.  Instead, OPEC officials used the Cairo meeting to defer any decisions to change production levels to their December 17th meeting in Oman, Algeria.

HEAT USA price experts confirmed Friday’s prediction of flat heating oil prices today, but anticipate a big drop in retail prices tomorrow, based on this morning’s steep downward trend on the markets.

HEAT USA Price Report
Today’s average retail heating oil price per gallon: NO CHANGE
Morning projection (for Tuesday’s average price per gallon): DOWN $0.08