Afternoon Price Check, September 2: Oil Prices Post More Gains on Economic Data and Hurricane Threat
Crude oil prices dipped this morning before bouncing back in afternoon trading at the NYMEX. (image: ft.com)
Fresh tidbits of positive economic news brought increases in crude and heating oil prices at the NYMEX for the second day in a row today. Official data released on Thursday showed a small decrease in new unemployment claims this week, an increase in pending home sales during July, and a rise in factory orders for commercial airplanes and other oil-dependent products. Those economic factors provided primary support to oil prices, while Hurricane Earl’s threat to East Coast refining activity and an oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico added secondary support. The price of crude closed near $75 per barrel, the middle of the $70 to $80 range it has been contained by in recent weeks. US stock markets also posted gains today, helping to lift oil prices by building general economic optimism. The increase in the market price for heating oil will likely bring a modest increase in retail prices tomorrow. Despite Wednesday and Thursday’s short-term gains, medium- and long-term oil prices show few sings of staging a sustained climb under huge supplies and general economic uncertainty.
Today’s Closing Prices at the NYMEX
Crude oil (October 2010 contract): Up 1.5 percent, $75.02 a barrel
Heating oil (October 2010 contract): Up 1.5 percent
How to Prepare Your Heating Oil System for a Hurricane
Although Hurricane Earl was downgraded to a category 3 storm on Thursday afternoon, it’s still a whopper of the storm whose effects could soon be felt in much of the Northeast. According to a report by the Washington Post released at 2:30 pm Eastern time on Thursday,
Forecasters were trying to determine whether the storm [...]
HeatingOil.com Profiles: Energy Audits by Atlas Glen-Mor
In business, “diversification” is an oft-repeated buzzword, but one that certainly deserves its buzz. By offering a wider range of products and/or services, businesses can expand their customer base, increase revenue, and protect themselves from any sudden changes to their industries. This is as true in the heating oil industry as any other—by [...]
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Heating Oil Price Trend for September 2: +4¢
A brief spate of economic optimism brought major gains to US stock markets and oil prices yesterday. Increases in Chinese and US manufacturing activity bolstered investors’ hopes that global oil demand would soon improve, and a weak US dollar made oil a more attractive investment to those holding foreign currencies. Resulting jumps in [...]
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Afternoon Price Check, September 1: Oil Prices Bounce Back on Stock Market Gains
After dropping sharply to end the month of August yesterday, crude and heating oil prices rose steeply at the NYMEX today, following surging stock markets. News that both US and Chinese manufacturing increased last month gave a major boost to perceptions of the American economy and future global oil demand. This morning’s petroleum [...]
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New Jersey Joins Low-Sulfur Heating Oil Club
New Jersey enacted low-sulfur heating oil mandates on Tuesday, becoming the fourth Northeastern state to require cleaner-burning heating oil. The state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which began considering the new rules in January, announced their official adoption with a statement from DEP commissioner Bob Martin, NorthJersey.com reported.
Martin said that the rules will make [...]
Heating Oil Price Trend for September 1: -4¢
Oil prices ended the month of August with a whimper on Tuesday, sinking under the weight of huge supplies of petroleum products and a weak US economy. The price of crude dropped by more than 10 percent over last month, reversing the upward trend seen in June and July. With the summer driving [...]
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Afternoon Price Check, August 31: Oil Prices Continue Slide on High Supplies
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NJ Non-Profit Offers Heating Oil Assistance to Middle-Income Residents
Many families around the nation rely on government assistance to pay their heating oil bills each winter. The federal program that provides that assistance, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), generally works well but struggles more and more each year to meet the huge demand from needy families. To fill the assistance [...]
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HeatingOil.com Dealer Profiles: Petro Heating and Air Conditioning
Petro is one of the largest heating oil dealers in the country, serving the entire Northeast. Its blue trucks and blue and gold logo are recognizable to millions to Northeastern residents. As one of the largest and, according to Vice president of Sales and Marketing Joe McDonald, one of the oldest heating oil [...]
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Heating Oil Price Trend for August 31: -1¢
Oil prices dipped at the NYMEX on Monday as huge supplies of petroleum products and the struggling US economy regained the focus of investors. Falling stock market indexes showed a lack of confidence in the economic recovery that once again underscored weak demand for fossil fuels. Total petroleum inventories are at 20-year highs, [...]
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Afternoon Price Check, August 30: Oil Prices Drop on Stock Market Declines, Economy
Crude and heating oil prices slipped at the NYMEX today, as the momentum from Fed Chairman Bernanke’s encouraging comments on the US economy wore off and stock markets sunk. With record-high supplies of petroleum products and relatively weak demand, oil prices of late have been increasingly led by stock market indexes and other economic [...]
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Police in Rural England Begin “Tagging” Heating Oil to Prevent Theft
Heating oil theft is not a very common occurrence, but it does happen. Tough economic times have driven increasing numbers of desperate thieves to victimize unsuspecting homeowners in recent years draining their heating oil tanks. Such thefts usually occur in rural areas, where shady characters operating a truck or oil pump are more [...]
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CFTC Regulators Call for Better Oversight of High-Tech Trading
In response to a report last week on a flawed trading algorithm that caused a spike in oil price volatility, two members of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission called for tighter regulation of computer-based trading. Reuters reported on Thursday that commissioners Scott O’Malia and Bart Chilton both characterized the flawed algorithm created by the [...]
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HeatingOil.com Helps Thousands of Heating Oil Users Find New Heating Oil Suppliers Every Month
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With tens of thousands of consumers coming to our site every month to read our heating [...]
Heating Oil Price Trend for August 30: +3¢
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Researchers Looking into Exactly How Much Cow Flatulence Contributes to Global Warming
With all the eating grain and standing around cows do, their digestive systems produce a lot of gas. A main component of all that cow flatulence (a.k.a. farts) is methane gas, a greenhouse gas that is 26 times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the earth’s atmosphere.
Flatulence from cows and other [...]
Japanese Invention Turns Plastic Trash into Oil
One of the reasons plastic disposable water bottles have become the arch-nemeses of environmentalists in recent years is that they are (like all other plastics) made out of crude oil. All those plastic bottles, plastic silverware, plastic toys, etc. use up a lot of oil. The GOOD Magazine blog posted a video from [...]
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Afternoon Price Check, August 27: Oil Prices Continue Climb on Stock Market Gains
Much-anticipated comments from Fed chairman Ben Benanke boosted confidence in the US economy and sent stocks rising, which brought oil prices higher for the third day in a row. Tropical storm Earl also lent some support to prices as it moved toward the Gulf coast, setting off concerns that it could disrupt US refining [...]
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Heating Oil Price Trend for August 27: +5¢
Better-than-expected data on US unemployment combined with a weak dollar to drive up oil prices at the NYMEX on Thursday, bringing a major increase in retail heating oil prices on Friday. Initial unemployment claims declined last week, setting off a trend of slight optimism that the economic recovery in the US could pick up [...]
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