This is an excellent time to fill your oil tank at home, or your car with fuel.

Home heating oil prices in Northern Ireland have fallen again, on top of recent drops, to their lowest point since summer last year.

The cost of refilling a vehicle has also dropped markedly, to its lowest level in more than three years.

The cost of home heating oil and petrol and diesel has been mostly high since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2002. But all three have fallen steadily in recent months.

placeholder image — The cost of filling a car is the lowest it has been in the province in three years, £1.30 a litre for unleaded petrol and £1.33 for diesel

It now costs only £287 to purchase 500 litres of home heating oil, and £506 to buy 900 litres, according to the Northern Ireland Consumer Council. That is the lowest it has been since May to July 2023, when the respective prices were about £280 and £495 respectively.

For much of the period after the Russian attack prices were £1 a litre or more, compared to the 56 to 57p now. Prices have thus fallen by more than 40% from their highs.

Given that most of the province is still heated by oil, unlike Great Britain where gas is the biggest source of domestic energy, the new figures will greatly alleviate the cost of living in many households.

Meanwhile, prices at the pump are now cheaper too, reducing the cost of motoring. A litre of unleaded petrol in Northern Ireland now costs a mere £1.30 while diesel is £1.33 on average.

Petrol has not been this cheap since July 2021. In the summer after President Putin’s invasion it touched £1.90 per litre.

Diesel is at its lowest level since September 2021, exactly three years ago. It almost touched £2 a litre in June 2022, topping out at £1.98.

When Hamas attacked Israel last year, on October 7, there were fears that the cost of all three – home heating oil, petrol and diesel – would climb yet higher, potentially causing a major recession.

At the time of the attacks, it cost around £700 to fill a 900-litre oil tank, and petrol in NI was selling on average at £1.52 a litre, diesel at £1.58.

But in fact the onset of war in the Middle East did not lead to any price rises, and instead oil, petrol and diesel have all fallen gradually but relentlessly since then, albeit with brief periods when they went slightly upward before continuing to fall.

Lower demand for oil globally and a relatively strong pound are behind the falls.