Home heating oil price rises by nearly £200 in a fortnight in Northern Ireland: Diesel and electricity costs also rising

The latest weekly oil price figures from the Northern Ireland Consumer Council, published on Thursday morning, shows that a 900 litre tank of oil now costs an average of £928.98 - a rise of £93.38 on last week’s average price.

The week before, the same quantity of fuel cost an average of £740.87.

In the two weeks since August 18, the average cost of filling a 900 litre tank has risen by £188.11.

Other energy costs are also continuing to increase.

Electric Ireland, a provider for around 100,000 households in Northern Ireland, announced plans to hike its prices by nearly a third from the beginning of next month.

A 29% increase will come into effect for Electric Ireland customers from October 1, the company announced on Thursday afternoon.

Electric Ireland’s Bill Coyle said: “This continues to be a very challenging time for all energy consumers, and an unprecedented time in the energy industry.

“It is with considerable reluctance that we are increasing electricity prices for our customers, which is necessary given the continuing increase in wholesale energy.”

Electric Ireland say the increase amounts to “approximately £5.29 per week on the average residential electricity bill”.

The latest price hike follows a succession of increases in the cost of electricity and gas by several companies over the course of 2022.

The cost of diesel is also rising again, after a slight fall in prices over the summer months, according to new figures from the Northern Ireland Consumer Council.

Diesel is now retailing for an average price of 179.7p per litre in Northern Ireland, up from the average of 178.1p reported by the consumer council.

In late June and early August, some fuel retailers were charging more than £2 per litre for diesel but could still be bought for considerably less at that time.

The highest average price ever reported by the consumer council came on June 30, when diesel would set the average motorist back 197.5p per litre.

Petrol prices, meanwhile, do not appear to have increased in the past week with an average price of 167p per litre changed by less than a penny from last week’s price of 167.6p.

Average petrol prices also peaked on June 30 in Northern Ireland 189.9p per litre, and again on July 7.