Oil prices continue to rise

22 August 2008

Oil prices continued to rise yesterday as other commodities such as gold and gas also recorded an upward trend.

Morning trading saw the price of a barrel hit over $120 (£62), a $6 rise in one day, the Guardian reports.

Such surges could be bad news for home heating oil users as autumn approaches.

According to ICIS Heren, the data provider, the recent rise in prices is a "classic squeeze" as "the market had become fundamentally short during August as oil tumbled in July from record highs earlier this year and spot prices fell towards the end of the month".

Yesterday, analysts told the Associated Press that oil prices increases will continue as tensions between Georgia and Russia remain unresolved.

Hurricane season is also having an impact on world oil prices as there are worries supply in the Gulf of Mexico could be disrupted.

Click here for home heating oil price trends