O i l O u t l oo k
Fuel Price Outlook
Not great for the 2013/2014 season — but looking up
By Keith Reid
Powerhouse®, a group of seasoned energy
experts and broker professionals working
in partnership to meet the business goals
of its customers. He is an internationally
recognized expert in pricing and business
practices in the energy industry. A petroleum specialist for over 40 years, Alan is a
highly regarded authority on the relationship of energy futures to cash petroleum
markets.
Milne the editor of Schneider Electric's
MarketWire—a real-time market and
news service focused on U.S. oil product
markets and relevant news and analysis,
and also the editor of OilSpot—a weekly
newsletter on the oil markets.
As should be noted, none of the projections outlined here are set in stone and
individual purchasing and hedging decisions should use this as simply a starting
point and not the ending point in the
decision-making process.
T
he past few heating seasons have
not necessarily been exciting for
heating oil dealers and marketers—
at least not in a good way. Fuel prices
have not been pleasing nor has the weather particularly cooperated. However, the
early indications are that 2013 may turn
18
out to be a luckier year for the industry
than most. Fuel Oil News interviewed
some experts for perspective on what to
expect in the coming months. On the oil
front, we were assisted by Alan Levine
and Brian Milne.
Levine is the CEO and chairman of
October 2013 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
The core component in the price of
refined fuels centers on crude oil. The
various domestic shale fields have been
generating more than just natural gas with
new supplies of crude oil coming online
as well. Despite this, oil prices have not
yet seen a significant drop for a range of
reasons. Instability in the Middle East
has played into this, but so far not to an
extraordinary extent.
"We saw an initial boost in earlier in
July with the Egyptian crisis and then the
Syrian situation worked to push the contract to a 28-month-high settlement," said
Milne. "But some of that is getting peeled
Refinery image ©istockphoto.com/Photobase
Crude oil
