Crude and heating oil take a tumble

16/03/2009

Heating oil and crude futures have both fallen substantially during trading in New York this morning (March 16th) following the announcement that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) will not be introducing another supply cut.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude for April delivery was trading at $44.31 (£31.22) a barrel by 7:00 Eastern Time, down $1.90 on its opening price.

Meanwhile, heating oil contracts were also down in early trading, with the April delivery heating oil contract reaching $1.1590 a gallon by 7:03 Eastern Time, down 3.82 cents.

Reuters reports that the move not to enact further cuts was an indicator that Opec does not wish to be drawn into a supply row with the US administration.

Speaking after the adjournment of yesterday's meeting, Opec secretary general Abdullah al-Badri said that he had been encouraged by President Obama's response to the economic crisis.

"I don't want to say that I voted for Obama, but we can see a different tone ... that we didn't see in the past," he commented.