Heating oil up as crude rises

31/03/2009

Heating oil prices have made headway on the New York Mercantile Exchange after suffering a heavy drop yesterday (March 30th).

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, heating oil futures for April delivery were trading at $1.3699 (95.97p) a gallon by 05:39, up 2.73 cents on their opening price.

By the close of trading yesterday, the headline heating oil contract had lost nearly ten cents on the gallon as commodities suffered across the board.

Crude prices plummeted following the announcement that US auto giants such as GM and Chrysler would need to be dramatically overhauled if they were to benefit from further bailout funding.

President Obama called for a merger deal between Chrysler and Fiat and asked for the head of GM to step down as conditions for further federal funding.

Fears over the collapse of the auto industry caused sharp drops in all petroleum commodities as analysts feared that industrial and consumer fuel use would plummet.