Petrol and diesel both rising in price - but ballooning heating oil costs have stalled
The price of petrol and diesel in Northern Ireland is continuing to shoot up for a fourth consecutive week.
However, the cost of home heating oil appears to have plateaued after spiking suddenly last month.
This has all been revealed by the latest batch of data from the Consumer Council, the government body in Northern Ireland that monitors the cost of all three types of fuel on a weekly basis.
It found that, on average in NI, the cost of a petrol stood at 151.4ppl last Thursday, but today this had risen to 153.2ppl.
Diesel stood at 167ppl last Thursday, but today it had climbed to 171.4ppl.
Before the Iran war began in February the price of petrol averaged out at 124.8ppl in Northern Ireland, but went on to peak at 154ppl in mid-April, then sank down to 144.7ppl by July 9 – before beginning to rise once more.
As for diesel, it was 132.6ppl before the war, peaked at 188.1ppl in mid-April, then hit 154.6ppl on July 9 before heading northward again.
In other words, petrol prices have risen 6% in a month, while diesel is up by 11%.
There is some mild relief for the roughly two-thirds of householders who rely on home heating oil instead of gas.
Like petrol and diesel, the price of heating oil had been coming down ever since April before it shot up again last month – but it has remained fairly steady for the last three weeks, and in fact has dropped gently in the last seven days.
According to the Consumer Council, as of today a 900 litre load costs an average of £787 in Northern Ireland (down from £818 one week prior), while 500 litres costs £444 (down from £461 a week earlier), and 300 litres costs £273 (down from £285 the Thursday before).
Prior to the US/Israeli attack on Iran, which led to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz through which a large chunk of the world’s oil flows, 900 litres of home heating oil would have cost the average NI consumer £537.
At its height in early April, this had skyrocketed to £1,089.
The website Boilerjuice.com monitors red diesel prices in Northern Ireland, and today it said it stood at about 92ppl, having remained reasonably steady for the last couple of months.
It had peaked early at almost 130ppl on March 7.
Before the war, the cost was around 72ppl.