Archive for March, 2010
At IEF Meeting, a Call for Gov’t Intervention to Curb Oil Prices (Except from US)
As reported Wednesday by the Financial Times, the biennial conference of the International Energy Forum resulted in a significant change in the relationship of oil exporting nations and oil importers. Agreeing that oil price volatility was damaging to both groups, every nation in attendance except for the US supported government intervention in oil pricing as [...]
Read More »UPDATE: Flynn’s Oil Given One More Week to Repay its Customers
Before a scheduled hearing could take place on Wednesday, state prosecutors and lawyers for Flynn’s Oil met with the judge behind closed doors and agreed to give Flynn’s another week to raise the money necessary to repay customers who had prepaid for heating oil they never received, reports the Union Leader. The hearing, which will [...]
Read More »Afternoon Price Check, March 31: Oil Prices Swing on Inventory Data, Obama Speech
After a late-morning plunge, oil prices recovered and posted large gains on the day; the price of crude oil hit its highest point in 11 weeks. A weak dollar supported higher prices for crude oil futures and heating oil futures throughout the day, since a weak dollar makes commodities cheaper for investors who hold other [...]
Read More »Obama Announces Expansion of Offshore Drilling, New Car Efficiency Standards; Calls for Comprehensive Energy Reform
In a speech delivered at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, President Obama announced that the Interior Department would lift bans on oil and natural gas drilling off the coast of the southeastern US and parts of Alaska. Along with the announcement, Obama made a clear effort to cast his decision as a middle [...]
Read More »NH Court to Decide on Receiver for Flynn’s Oil Assets
Customers who prepaid Flynn’s Oil of Exeter, NH for heating oil that was never delivered could soon know whether or not Flynn’s Oil will be able to pay them back. State prosecutors will be in county court on Wednesday asking a judge to appoint a receiver to seize Flynn’s assets and determine what can be [...]
Read More »Maine Heating Oil Prices Remain Unchanged
Last week’s assessment by the Maine Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security discovered that the average retail price for heating oil in the state was $2.68 a gallon, the same as it was the week before. Actual prices in the state ranged from $2.40 in the southwest to $2.90 in the east.
Read More »HeatingOil.com Profiles: Boro Fuel
For the third installment of the HeatingOil.com dealer profiles series, we bring you Boro Fuel of Brooklyn, NYC.
Boro and its owner, Jeff Cohn, represent a timeless story in the heating oil industry: a family business expanding and changing with the times to remain a trusted provider of heating fuel and system maintenance for decades. [...]
Heating Oil Price Trend for March 31: +1¢
After Monday’s big gains in the oil market, oil prices inched upward on Tuesday as confidence in the economic recovery encouraged traders to keep crude oil futures and heating oil futures near their high points of the year. Reports showing rising consumer confidence and home prices in the US seemed to support such optimism regarding [...]
Read More »Heating Degree Day Report: March 31, 2010
KEY: Cumulative Heating Degree Days since March 1, 2010 for specified location / departure from average cumulative HDDs for today’s date.
Read More »Despite Recent Gains, Investors See Flat Long-Term Oil Prices, Backed by OPEC
Crude oil prices have been rising steadily so far this year, but how long will it continue? According to an article in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, increasing numbers of oil traders are betting that the upward trend will soon flatten into a long plateau.
Crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange have stayed between [...]
Afternoon Price Check, March 30: US Economic Data Lifts Oil Prices
Reports that US consumer confidence rose in March and that house prices rose in February generated economic optimism that supported higher crude and heating oil prices. Positive economic sentiment generally buoys oil prices because economic recovery would entail an increase in oil demand. The fundamentals of supply and demand continue to weigh on oil prices, [...]
Read More »Energy Dept. Says World Oil Production Could Decline in 2011
The Department of Energy’s leading analyst of global oil markets told a blogger for the French newspaper Le Monde that world oil production could decline from 2011 to 2015 “if the investment is not there.”
This forecast comes from Glen Sweetnam, the director of the International Economic and Greenhouse Gas Division at the Energy Information Administration [...]
Heating Oil Price Trend for March 30: +5¢
The dollar sunk against the euro on Monday, sparking a rally across commodity markets, including steep increases in oil prices. Since commodities like crude oil futures and heating oil futures are priced in dollars, a weak dollar makes them cheaper for traders who hold other currencies, which spawns higher demand and higher prices. The euro’s [...]
Read More »Heating Degree Day Report: March 30, 2010
KEY: Cumulative Heating Degree Days since March 1, 2010 for specified location / departure from average cumulative HDDs for today’s date.
Read More »Push Toward Low-Sulfur Heating Oil Part of Shift in US Refining Industry
Export demands and forthcoming environmental regulations, including requirements for lower sulfur content in heating oil, are driving changes in the US refining sector, the oil industry newsletter The Oilspot News reported on Monday.
In recent years, demand for US-produced road diesel has grown, mostly in European and South American markets. Within that trend, demand for [...]
Controversial Falklands Oil Drilling Comes Up Empty
When Desire Petroleum made the decision to drill for oil off the shores of the Falkland Islands, some observers thought the British oil company’s push for natural resources could reignite the longstanding conflict between Britain and Argentina over the sovereignty of the islands. Now the first results of Desire’s drilling are in, and are so [...]
Read More »CT Company Uses Everyday Ingredients to Clean Up Oil Spills, Toxic Sites
A leak in a home heating oil tank can be a nightmare for a homeowner, and an expensive one at that. If the oil seeps into soil or groundwater the homeowner may be responsible for removing tons of contaminated soil along with the leaking tank. But a company in Connecticut has developed an environmentally [...]
Read More »Afternoon Price Check, March 29: Oil Prices Spike as Dollar Plunges
Oil prices increased sharply today, boosted by the falling value of the dollar. A weak dollar tends to lead to higher oil prices, since it makes commodities priced in dollars cheaper for investors who hold other currencies. The euro zone’s agreement to offer aid to Greece helped boost that currency, which in turn pushed down [...]
Read More »CFTC: Speculators’ Open Interest in Heating Oil and Gasoline Contracts Biggest in Four Years
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced last week that open interest in heating oil and gasoline options and futures on the NYMEX had hit a four-year high. In commodities investment parlance, “open interest” refers to options and futures contracts that have been bought or sold but have not yet been settled or delivered. [...]
Read More »OPEC Study Will Predict Flat Oil Prices Until 2020
A yet-to-be released study expects oil prices to remain in the $70-80 range for the next ten years, says CNBC.
Conducted by OPEC, the report and its fuller details will become public on Tuesday and Wednesday during a presentation at the 12th International Energy Forum (IEF) conference in Cancun, Mexico. United Arab Emirates 24/7 reports that [...]
