Home heating oil prices jump 50% in less than three days…

Last week my parents were talking about ordering oil, so when the news hit about the American attacks on Iran, my first thought was to jump on the internet on Saturday morning and order them some oil. I’m glad I did.

I managed to get them 500L for £297. Looking at the same website today, I noticed that 500L would now cost me £447, a 50% increase in only three days. Some of the increase is due to the price rise in oil, but a lot of it also seems to be due to people panic buying.

My advice is, unless you need oil now, just wait and see what happens, as prices could stabilise over the next few weeks. There’s actually been a glut of global oil over the past few years, and while 20% of the world’s oil supply does flow through the Strait of Hormuz, other supplies could come on stream to make up the shortfall.

Petrol and diesel prices have also started to rise, but not as sharply. I am personally on gas, and gas prices are due to come down next month. It seems that gas prices are less volatile, and any price increase will take a few months to take effect. I deliberately went for a pre-payment meter for my gas, so if they do announce any price rises, I will just stock it up. At least spring has sprung, and we will be coming into the warmer weather, so heating is becoming less of a necessity, thankfully. The Met Office says temperatures will hit a balmy 18 degrees this Thursday.

So the general message is “keep calm and carry on”.

I should also acknowledge that oil prices are a pretty low problem compared to the plight of the poor sods in the Middle East getting bombs dropped on them, but sadly, all that is outside of our control.

Brian O'Neill

Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.