NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 06:53 EST — Premarket
NY Harbor ULSD (ultra-low sulfur diesel) futures — the main U.S. benchmark for heating oil and diesel — climbed 2.8 cents to $2.1476 a gallon. Traders are eyeing resistance close to $2.16 and support near $2.07. Meanwhile, WTI crude gained 49 cents to $58.25 a barrel and Brent advanced 54 cents to $62.53. (Barchart)
Heating oil prices draw attention in January since they show up fast on home energy bills across the U.S. Northeast, and they can also feed through into transportation expenses. Traders, meanwhile, use the contract as a real-time gauge of distillate demand when refinery production changes or supply risks move around.
U.S. distillate fuel stocks — a broad category that includes heating oil and diesel — increased to 129.273 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 2 from 123.679 million the prior week, according to Energy Information Administration data. East Coast inventories rose to 32.906 million barrels, and the Central Atlantic region accounted for most of the gain. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Crude held its ground as traders assessed the risk of disruption in Iran and fresh uncertainty over Venezuelan supply. “Iran protests seem to be gathering momentum, leading the market to worry about disruptions,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity analysis at Saxo Bank, said. Haitong Futures, meanwhile, flagged rising inventories and oversupply as the anchor that could limit further gains. (Reuters)
Thursday brought a surge in distillates: February NY Harbor ULSD was last seen up 4.54% at $2.1501 a gallon in a CME update, with roughly 51,000 lots traded by then. (CME Group)
Still, the rally looks vulnerable if the news cycle doesn’t translate into actual barrels coming off the market. Analysts at Ritterbusch and Associates said it could take years for a meaningful flow of Venezuelan crude to reach the U.S. Gulf Coast, and Raymond James strategist Pavel Molchanov warned Iran’s exports “could be at risk” if unrest escalates. (Reuters)
Macro news can still whip prices around. The U.S. nonfarm payrolls report lands Friday ahead of Wall Street’s open, and traders are leaning on it for signals on rate-cut bets after last year’s shutdown skewed parts of the data flow. (Reuters)
Distillate traders now have their eyes on the EIA’s weekly petroleum report due Jan. 14, set to update diesel and heating oil inventory figures following the holiday stretch. (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
