Commodities for Tuesday, Sept. 10, 1985 : Heating Oil Futures Rally

Heating oil futures, buoyed by concern about tight supplies, led a rally in petroleum futures Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Anticipation that weekly figures from the American Petroleum Institute would provide further evidence of a possible shortage of domestic heating oil supplies gave a boost to futures prices, said Andrew Lebow, a petroleum analyst with Shearson Lehman Bros.

Heating oil has climbed from 68 cents a gallon to about 80 cents a gallon since the current rally began in late July. Weekly statistics have shown that domestic inventories are at their lowest in two decades.

The API numbers, which were expected to show a slight increase in domestic inventories, were to be released late Tuesday.

The rally in heating oil also lifted crude oil futures, Lebow said, as crude prices shook off new reports that Saudi Arabia plans to increase production and reduce prices.

Gasoline futures were mostly higher as temporary shutdowns of refineries in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Elena could cause spot shortages, Lebow said.