Price of Oil Slides, Due in Part to Warm Winter
For the first time in 18 months, the price of oil has fallen below $55 a barrel, in large part because the winter has been so mild in the Northeast. The United States is the world's biggest heating-oil market. So when it's warm here, it has a significant effect on demand.
On the supply side, OPEC is thinking about cutting crude oil production again to get prices back up. They reduced their output once already in November; there are plans for another cut next month.
But that will be too late to have an impact on this year's heating bills. The Energy Department says that the average U.S. household heating bill will be $873 this winter. That's less than last year — and the first drop since 2002.
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