Heating oil up as oil wobbles

24/03/2009

Heating oil prices rose to $1.4875 (£1.01) a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (March 24th), up more than 1.6 cents by 6:35 Eastern Time.

The gains continue a sizable rally witnessed yesterday, when near-term delivery contracts rose more than 8.5 cents on the gallon, tracking the continued uptick in crude prices.

However, May delivery oil futures have wobbled in New York this morning, with Bloomberg attributing this to expectations of a rise in stockpiles as a result of weak demand.

Meanwhile, the stronger performance of the dollar against the euro also quelled the increase in buyer activity in Asian markets to a degree.

Although the May delivery contract dropped to a low of $53.12 a barrel in early trading, it had climbed back to $53.50 by 6:40 Eastern Time, down 30 cents on its opening price.