Warning against 'panic buying' of home heating oil amid skyrocketing prices in Northern Ireland
A politician has called for action to stop oil companies from “profiteering” from the current Iran crisis, as he urged the Northern Irish public not to “panic buy”.
TUV councillor Keith Ratcliffe said that the leap in heating oil prices is a concern to householders, “especially those in rural communities”.
He said: “While global events, particularly instability in the Middle East and disruption to oil supplies, naturally result in higher crude oil costs, many people cannot understand why the price of their heating oil appears to be rising far more steeply than movements on the global markets would suggest.
“There is clearly public demand for measures to ensure that suppliers are not using this situation to profiteer at the expense of consumers.
"There must be transparency in pricing and accountability within the industry.
“I would encourage the public not to panic buy.
"A sudden flood of orders will only exacerbate supply and demand pressures and risk driving prices even higher.
“However, when increases on the global crude markets are measured and incremental, yet the rises passed on at wholesale level are sharper and more immediate, that difference must be properly examined and explained.
"Consumers deserve clarity and fairness in how these prices are set.”
Raymond Gormley, head of energy policy at the Consumer Council told the News Letter that “the home heating oil market in Northern Ireland is unregulated, so there are limited price controls in place”; instead “it relies on market competition to keep prices under control”.
On the question of why a similarly sharp spike has not been seen in petrol / diesel prices, Michelle Kelly, head of transport policy at the Consumer Council told the News Letter: “Overall, there tends to be more of a ‘lag’ in changes to petrol and diesel prices.
"It can take some time for changes in the wholesale price of oil to work their way through the supply chain to the fuel pump.
"Price differences also often reflect when fuel was purchased by retailers and the volume bought at a given price.”
Though the home heating price surge is steep, it is not as high as the spike seen in February 2022, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At that time, the average price for 500 litres in Northern Ireland surpassed £662 (and over £1,181 for 900 litres) – though it dropped sharply soon after.