Oil prices rise for second day

16 December 2009

Written by Kim Bardsley

Crude oil prices were on the rise this morning (December 16th), extending gains made yesterday on the back of industrial output data from the US.

In the electronic trading session on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the headline crude oil contract rose above $71 (£43.70) a barrel this morning as Asian markets took stock of the latest output data, which showed an unexpectedly strong manufacturing yield in November.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services in Sydney, commented: "The data was relatively encouraging, particularly when you look at industrial production. People are starting to say there seems to be a bit more demand out there."

Heating oil prices also moved upwards on the data, mimicking gains in crude and breaking an extended run of losses.

Traders will also be looking ahead to the publication of the latest crude and heating oil inventories data from the Energy Information Administration due out later today for further signs of demand recovery.

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