The cost of heating home oil in Northern Ireland drops almost as low as it did last summer

​Oil soared in the province and elsewhere after President Putin ordered his troops to cross his neighbour’s eastern border in February 2022, triggering a cost-of-energy crisis and threatening a global recession.

Prices gradually came down from the post invasion spike, but stayed high for most of the rest of that year and well into 2023.

However, oil prices began to drop steadily last spring and by May 2023 were as low as £280 for 500 litres and £495 for 900 litres. Few NI homeowners saw the benefit of that drop because it happened over the late spring and early summer, when people tend not to be thinking about purchasing fuel. By August, when householders do turn their thoughts to energy (which in the case of most homes in Northern Ireland means buying oil) prices were beginning to rise rapidly towards £400 for 500ltrs and £700 for 900 ltrs.

This year, in an apparent repeat of last spring, prices began to fall again, dropping below £330 for 500 ltrs and below £580 for 900 ltrs at the end of May.

During the early summer they rose up a bit but have now edged back down, to £297 for 500 ltrs and £525 for 900 ltrs. While still above last summer’s cheapest prices, the cost of home heating oil is now far below average for the two-and-a-half years since the Ukraine war got under way.

The Hamas attacks on Israel in October were expected to lead to another surge in prices but did not have much medium-term impact.

Meanwhile, petrol prices have fallen to their lowest level in six months, new analysis shows.

The AA said the average price of a litre of the fuel was 143.0p this week in the UK.

Mid-February was the last time it was this low.

Diesel prices have fallen to an average of 147.9p per litre, a level not seen since late January.

The AA claimed the figures are "little cause for celebration", noting that the highest average price for petrol before the coronavirus pandemic was 142.5p per litre in April 2012 .