Oil down for sixth consecutive day

18 January 2010

Written by Kim Bardsley

Oil prices moved lower for the sixth day in a row this morning, as demand concerns re-emerged.

Crude oil prices moved lower in the electronic trading session on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (January 18th), marking the sixth consecutive day of declines.

The price of heating oil also dipped amid a slew of bearish economic data from the US and a widespread perception that demand for heating fuels will dip in the northern hemisphere now that the cold snap has eased off.

Speaking to Reuters, Ben Westmore, a commodities analyst at Australia National Bank, said this morning's slump was a spill-over from Friday.

"The demand fundamentals remain weak and there also isn't going to be any economic data out of the US over the next couple of days that can change the prevailing bearish views," he explained.

As European markets opened, the headline crude contract had slipped to $77.83 (£47) a barrel, down 17 cents on Friday's closing price. Heating oil prices slipped 0.4 cents to trade around the $2.04-a-gallon mark.

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