The average price of home heating oil has increased at the fastest pace the north for more than a year, new analysis from the Consumer Council suggests.
The weekly survey carried out by the consumer body found the average price of 500 litres of home heating oil rose by more than £30 (7%) in the past week to £309.97.
That was the sharpest increase in a single week since the start of August 2023.
Prices had been generally trending downwards since the recent peak in early July.
Unusually for the north’s oil market, kerosene had been generally cheaper in the autumn months than in the summer.
The combination of an increase in the wholesale price of crude oil over the past month, coupled with the dropping temperatures, now appear to have filtered through to the local market.
The Consumer Council’s survey found the average price of 900 litres of heating oil increased by £33 to £542.46 in the past week, while smaller batches of 300 litres were up by around £16 (8.5%) to £199.
Tensions in the Middle East and concern over a potential Israeli strike on Iran’s oil production infrastructure briefly sent the price of crude oil above $80 per barrel on Monday for the first time since August.
Prices eased through the week, but were back on an upward trajectory on Thursday afternoon.
However, the global volatility in oil prices does not appear to have filtered through to fuel forecourts yet.
A separate price check survey from the Consumer Council showed diesel and petrol prices at the lowest levels for three years in the north.
The average price of a litre of diesel came in at £1.327 in the latest snapshot, while petrol averaged £1.295.
While both prices crept up in the past week, both petrol and diesel are at the most affordable levels since the summer of 2021.
Meanwhile, the latest AA survey of fuel prices in the Republic showed diesel averaged €1.67 (£1.40) during September, with petrol averaging €1.74 (£1.46) per litre.
