Crude Oil Demand Increase From OPEC Caused Crude Oil Prices Reach $ 75 Per Barrel
Oct/14/2009 | Under Crude Oil - Oil and Gas Drilling - Petroleum
Crude oil for November delivery reached $75.15 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, highest mark since October last year. The price fell back to $74.86 later during the trading session.
Currently, the dollar is at a 14-month low, bolstering crude prices. Heating oil futures ended high for the fourth straight day in a row. Even Gasoline futures closed up for the second day consecutively.
“Prices are higher in anticipation of higher demand,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts. “We have yet to see demand recover, but as long as there are upward revisions of future demand, there will be support for prices.”
Crude Prices Expected To Continue The Rally
The high oil prices have largely been driven by week dollar. Whether the oil prices will continue the upsurge will, to a great extent, depend on further weakness.
But analysts expect the oil prices to continue the rally. They expect that there will be an increase in demand for fuel from U.S. truckers, who are expected to supply inventory during the holiday season.
Further, the National Weather Service has predicted high demand for fuel in light of high demand for heating.
“We believe oil prices are poised to move higher,” Goldman Sachs, which expects prices to rise to $85 a barrel by the end of the year, said in a report. “All indicators still point to a normal seasonal pick-up in shipping to retailers this year.”