Heating oil tracks crude lower

23 February 2010

Written by Kim Bardsley

Heating oil prices moved lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange this morning (February 23rd), tracking losses seen in crude futures.

Despite marginal losses, both commodities continued to trade near a six-week high as concerns about a possible European fuel shortage continued to weigh on investors' minds.

And while the enmity between French workers' unions and national oil major Total showed little sign of easing as the company pushes ahead with refinery closure plans, investors held hope that an upcoming meeting between the two sides may put an end to the strike.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives sales manager at Newedge in Tokyo, said that many traders had decided to take profits as crude prices breached $80 (€58) a barrel.

"I don't think this market is strong, but after a break above $80, there's some technical short-covering. The dollar is still a factor," he explained.

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