Heating Oil Hits 1-Month High
US heating oil futures rallied above $2.25 per gallon on Wednesday, reversing the early-January slide and reaching a one-month high as crude benchmarks surged on renewed geopolitical risk and tighter US crude balances. Concerns over unrest in Iran and renewed uncertainty surrounding Venezuelan supply lifted the broader energy complex. On the supply side, the latest EIA report showed a 3.39 million-barrel increase in US crude stocks. Distillates posted only a marginal draw of about 29k barrels, undershooting expectations, though heating oil inventories fell by roughly 745k barrels, marking the sharpest weekly draw in months. The rebound reflects tighter near-term heating oil availability and heightened geopolitical risk, but upside remains constrained by ample overall crude and distillate supplies and persistently warmer-than-normal temperatures across the eastern US that continue to suppress seasonal demand.