Britons in rural areas face crisis as heating oil prices more than triple
If you had a nasty shock when you last filled up your car or received your latest gas bill, spare a thought for the 1.5 million rural households who rely on oil deliveries to heat their home. Many of them have seen prices more than triple over the past six months – and that’s assuming they can find a company willing to deliver.
Last September, consumers were paying about £250 for a 500-litre delivery of domestic heating oil. Fast forward to this week and the price had leapt to between £600 and as much as £875 for those requiring an urgent delivery.
The UK’s biggest domestic oil distributor, Certas, is among those that have been forced to suspend their normal pricing practices as the war in Ukraine sent prices rocketing. The market has in part broken down as suppliers have been cancelling broker-ordered deliveries, fearing they may be selling at a loss.
Normally, heating oil buyers agree a price and the delivery date when ordering. But the extreme price fluctuations in recent days have left suppliers taking orders and then contacting customers on the day of delivery with the price – and asking them whether they still want to go ahead.
Unlike those living in houses connected to the gas grid, people using oil to heat their homes are not covered by Ofgem’s price cap – leaving them at the mercy of rising oil prices. They tend to be living in rural locations, often in older, poorly insulated properties.
Charities including Citizens Advice have called for the price cap on gas supplies to be extended to the domestic heating oil market.
Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prices had increased alarmingly.
About 65% of the quoted price of heating oil – which is very similar to diesel sold on forecourts – is based on the crude oil
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