Heating oil prices show decline

26/10/2009

Heating oil prices for December delivery were trading at 209.51 cents per barrel this Monday (October 26th), a decrease of 95 points.

London Brent crude oil prices were $78.40 per barrel, a decrease of 52 cents, on London's ICE Futures exchange, reports Marketwatch.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a Nigerian militant group, announced on Sunday that it will stop oil pipeline bombings for an unspecified period of time.

Clarence Chu, a trader at Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore, said: "In terms of technicals, crude is still bullish, but the fundamentals are still bearish, especially after MEND's indefinite ceasefire."

He added that he would probably would go along with the current level, based on technicals.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has stated that it believes the recent increase in oil prices is more to do with the weakness of the US dollar than it is a recovery in demand.

Paul Ting, a consultant specialising in China's energy sector, said last week that China's oil demand had increased by 14 per cent in September.