Diesel and petrol prices drop for a second week in Northern Ireland - while home heating oil also drops
The prices of diesel, petrol, and home heating oil have all dropped – though the respite could be temporary.
While average prices of all three are down on a week earlier according to the Consumer Council’s latest Province-wide survey, the global price of crude oil has risen today to the highest level since the attack on Iran began.
This could potentially curb the downward momentum of all three consumer fuels in the weeks ahead.
The price of Brent crude rose to $126 a barrel today, the highest in four years, following reports that Donald Trump was preparing for an escalation of the Iran war.
On forecourts in Northern Ireland, this week’s price drop recorded by the Consumer Council today is roughly the same as a week before.
The Consumer Council says that the average price per litre of diesel is now 178.5p, while petrol is 150.4ppl.
For diesel, that is down from 183.8ppl last Thursday, and down from a peak of 188.1ppl the week before that.
Petrol meanwhile had stood last Thursday at 152.1ppl, down from a peak of 154ppl the week before that.
This means that over the last week the price of diesel has dropped by 2.9%, and the week before that the drop had been 2.3%.
For petrol, the decline over the past week has been 1.1%, with the previous weekly drop having been 1.2%.
Both remain far higher than they were before the attack on Iran, when diesel stood at 132.6ppl and petrol at 124.8ppl.
Home heating oil’s decline has been more sustained and more gentle.
It has now been dropping for three straight weeks, having basically plateaued for the preceding month.
The average cost of 300 litres of oil in Northern Ireland is now £326.38 (down by 1.3% on the week before), 500 litres is £527.51 (down by 0.8% on the week before), and 900 litres is £930.38 (down by 0.6% on the week before).
All three have now been above £1 per litre since the war began eight weeks ago, when they stood at £202.12 for 300 litres, £307.38 for 500 litres, and £536.72 for 900 litres.
For comparison, when Russia invaded Ukraine home heating oil in Northern Ireland only stayed above £1 per litre for a single week before falling back down.
The News Letter monitors the prices of oil with six firms, one in each county.
A 500 litre load, as of today, is as follows (with the price a fortnight earlier in brackets):
• North Down firm: £515.50 (£546)
• North Armagh firm: £504 (£545.48)
• Mid-Antrim firm: £525.53 (£570.68)
• South Tyrone firm: £518.18 (£568.04)
• Londonderry city firm: £529 (£584)
• West Fermanagh firm: £534 (£550)