Oil steady around $41

29/01/2009

Oil prices have stayed relatively flat during this morning's (January 29th) trading, after gaining marginally yesterday.

The main contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange - light, sweet crude for March deliver - retreated to $41.61 (£29.26) a barrel by 10:21GMT, down 55 cents on its opening price.

At the close of trading yesterday, the commodity had gained 58 cents, closing at $42.11 a barrel.

If this stability continues, the price of heating oil, DERV and other derivatives may level out as well.

Heating oil prices have fallen substantially in the last year, closely mimicking declines in crude costs.

However, Christopher Bellew, a broker at Bache Commodities, told Reuters that weak demand statistics from the US are likely to push prices down further.

Meanwhile, investors are also said to be apprehensive about the publication of new employment statistics in the US which are expected to show that the recession is continuing to deepen.