Diesel hits £2 a litre…

Thanks to the stable genius leader of the free world, Donald Trump, diesel in Northern Ireland has now hit £2 a litre.

In Northern Ireland, diesel cars make up around 50% to 55% of all private cars on the road.

Unlike the rest of the UK, where petrol cars are the majority (accounting for around 55% of all cars compared to under 30% for diesel), Northern Ireland has historically maintained a much higher proportion of diesel vehicles. This is largely due to higher rural driving mileage, strong historical preference for diesel fuel efficiency, and high cross-border travel with the Republic of Ireland.

The UK is a net exporter of motor gasoline (petrol) and a net importer of diesel (road fuel/gas oil). So the upshot is that petrol is up but not to the same extent as diesel.

Then there is the increased cost for farmers who are already operating on small margins.

While only about 5% of homes across the UK as a whole use heating oil,  in Northern Ireland, around 68% of homes rely on heating oil which has to be imported, and prices have risen dramatically as well, it was £570 for 500 litres this morning. For those holding out for prices to drop, I actually think prices could even rise higher so you might have to just bite the bullet and get some now for winter.

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.