March heating oil prices established a higher high during the overnight session, seemingly in response to private industry data late Tuesday that showed a larger than expected draw in distillate supplies last week. It seems that a weakening macroeconomic tone this morning, with a sell off in global equity markets and the Euro currency, subsequently pressured heating oil prices lower. Estimates for this morning’s EIA report are for a draw in distillate supplies in the neighborhood of 750,000 barrels.

March heating oil traded higher during the overnight and early morning hours. Some traders indicated that the market seemed to discount reports from the National Weather Service that estimated this week’s heat-related consumption to run more than 26.5% below normal. This follows a slight, 3% uptick in demand last week. The Commitments of Traders Futures and Options report as of January 17th showed non-commercial traders were net long 20,487 contracts, an increase of 2,855. Non-commercial and non-reportable traders combined held a net long position of 43,166 contracts, an increase of 2,318 on the week.

While February heating oil prices might have garnered an early morning lift from a favorable risk-on attitude, some traders question the US supply and demand picture. US distillate demand fell more than 8.0% below year ago levels in the latest EIA report, and that figure is expected to remain under pressure due to the unseasonably warm temperatures in the US. That was highlighted in the latest IEA monthly report that lowered their 2012 global oil demand target, partially in response to unseasonably warm northern hemisphere temperatures.

Commodities finished trading higher as gold futures finished up more than 2% while crude futures top $85 a barrel in a significant move higher at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery finished up 2.9% to $85.41 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 1.62% to $2.90 a gallon while natural gas was up 1.55% to $3.53 per million British thermal units.

In energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund ( USO ) is up 3.18% to $33.06. The United States Natural Gas ETF ( UNG ) is down 1.52% to $8.69.

Meanwhile, gold futures finished at their highest level in two weeks helped, in part, by a weaker dollar.

Gold for December delivery finished up 2.1% to $1,670.80 an ounce. In other metal futures, silver was up 3.28% to $32.01 a troy ounce while copper traded up 2.90% to $3.36 a pound.

The US Dollar Index was down 1.57% to $77.52.

In metal ETFs, SPDR Gold Trust ( GLD ) is up 2.26% to $162.77. Market Vectors ETF Trust ( GDX ) is up 2.92% to $56.48. iShares Silver Trust ( SLV ) is up 2.98% to $31.13.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook, October 2011.
Note: The Northeast Census Region includes Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Prices for the two fuels are converted into common units of dollars per million Btu by dividing the retail heating oil price by its energy content of 0.139 million Btu per gallon and the residential natural gas price by its energy content of 1.03 million Btu per thousand cubic feet.

Energy shares are higher as the last hour of the session gets underway and crude oil closes over 3% higher.

Light, sweet crude oil for November delivery finished up 3.1% to $86.80 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 2.69% to $3.05 a gallon while natural gas was up 4.84% to $3.70 per million British thermal units.

As it stands at the moment many of the risk asset markets…including oil may be ending the week with gains. The current week has seen mixed signals but in general the signals were biased to the supportive side of the equation. Starting with Europe all 17 EU member counties have now passed the ESFS bailout fund …including Slovakia. A step in the right direction but many steps are still required before the EU leadership can actually say they have a long lasting and durable solution to all of the sovereign debt issues in the EU. In addition G20 finance ministers are meeting (ahead of next month’s meeting) in Europe today and are discussing an expansion of the IMF’s lending powers as part of a global G20 agreement to be presented at next month’s meeting. On the negative side S& P downgraded Spain for the third time in three years this morning while Fitch downgraded two major banks and put several others on negative watch. But for today progress is still outweighing the downgrades.

Commodities finished trading higher as crude oil jumped following a key supply report while gold also finished in the green.

The Energy Information Administration reported a decline of 4.4 million barrels in oil inventories for the week ended June 24.

Light, sweet crude oil for August delivery finished up 2% to $94.77 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 3.39% to $2.92 a gallon while natural gas was down 0.9% to $4.31 per million British thermal units.

Energy shares are higher as crude oil futures surge by nearly 4% to trade above $100 a barrel.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery is trading up 3.61% to $100.69 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil is up 2.76% to $2.92 a gallon while natural gas is up 0.78% to at $4.20 per million British thermal units.

by MidnightTrader.com Staff from Midnight Trader NYMEX Benchmark Crude May: (+0.16%) to $112.42 Top Energy Stocks XOM: -0.7% CVX: -0.4% COP: -3.0% SLB: -1.2% OXY: -0.4% Energy shares are broadly lower at the session’s half while crude oil futures inched lower to trade below $112 a barrel. Light, sweet crude for June delivery is trading down [...]

by MidnightTrader.com Staff from Midnight Trader Commodities finished higher, with gold jumping after the Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates stable at historically low levels. Oil also gained. Light, sweet crude for June delivery finished up 0.5% to $112.76 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 0.85% to $3.23 a gallon [...]

Commodities finished higher with crude regaining its footing after last week’s steep slide. Silver also found a base to rise more than 5% along with gold.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery finished up 5.5% at $102.55 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 4.84% to $2.98 a gallon while natural gas was down 1.75% to $4.16 per million British thermal units.

December heating oil garnered an early morning lift as the outside market tone took a more favorable turn. Some traders suggested that hopes for a resolution to the European debt crisis later this week was a factor supporting risk taking attitudes this morning. The Commitments of Traders Futures and Options report as of October 18th showed non-commercial traders were net long 21,633 contracts, an increase of 13,006. Non-commercial and nonreportable traders combined held a net long position of 35,232 contracts, an increase of 17,451. The active spec buying interest was also highlighted by an active buying from money mangers, both seen as positive short term forces.

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Referenced Stocks: GDX, GLD, SLV, UNG, USO

Commodities finished trading down as crude oil futures ended lower while gold was pressured by a stronger dollar.

Light, sweet crude oil for November delivery finished down 0.9% to $85.30 a barrel. In other energy futures, heating oil was up 0.6% to $2.99 a gallon while natural gas was up 1.56% to $3.64 per million British thermal units.

In energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund ( USO ) is down 1.17% to $32.92. The United States Natural Gas ETF ( UNG ) is up 0.29% to $8.79.