U.S. heating oil prices fell to about $5.05 per gallon after reaching a record $5.26 earlier this week. The retreat followed a 1.6 million-barrel increase in distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, although stocks remained 13% below their five-year average. Expectations that Middle Eastern crude could reach Asian refiners through alternative routes also helped relieve concerns about tight supplies. Saudi Arabia was reportedly working to restore about half of its East-West oil pipeline capacity within days after drone attacks halted the route to the Red Sea, while arranging additional crude cargoes for Asian refiners through ship-to-ship transfers off Oman’s Sohar port. Fresh strikes between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi forces kept supply risks elevated. Analysts will be watching whether winter distillate demand rises and whether refinery maintenance limits production, potentially intensifying pressure on inventories.