Petrol, diesel and home heating oil prices continue to fall in Northern Ireland, latest weekly figures show

The Northern Ireland Consumer Council’s latest fuel and heating oil price checker figures, published on Thursday, show a second successive drop in average prices.

While costs remain far above historic levels — diesel prices, for example, are currently 45% higher than the same time last year — the recent price cuts will be welcomed by consumers.

The average price of a litre of diesel in Northern Ireland now stands at 191p — down on last week’s price of 195.6p and 197.2p a fortnight ago, the Consumer Council figures show.

The figures paint a similar picture for petrol, with this week’s average price of 185.6p per litre down on 189.4p from a week ago and 189.6p the week before that.

For home heating oil, average prices are also dropping in Northern Ireland.

A 900 litre tank now costs an average of £814.67 to fill — down on £839.60 last week, £873.76 the week before and £926.17 the week before that.

The average cost of 900 litres of kerosene has now dropped four weeks in a row.

The price drops have not been consistent across all retailers, however, with filling stations in both Belfast and Bangor still selling diesel at close to the £2 per litre mark.

The highest diesel price identified in the Consumer Council’s survey was 198.9p per litre by at least one Belfast retailer, followed by 197.9p by at least one filling station in Bangor.

For petrol, the highest price found was 192.9p with retailers in Belfast and Newtownabbey found to be charging that amount.

The lowest prices found by the Consumer Council in Northern Ireland this week were both in Co Tyrone, a departure from the trend of recent weeks of Londonderry coming out on top as the best value location for motorists.

The cheapest price for diesel in Northern Ireland was found in Omagh, where at least one filling station was offering a price of 179.6p. For petrol, the best price could be had in Cookstown where at least one retailer was offering 174.9p per litre.

The prices all have a long way to fall to match those on offer at this time last year.

On July 22, 2021, the Northern Ireland Consumer Council reported an average diesel price of 131.7p per litre, with petrol at 130.1p — a far cry from today’s prices. A 900 litre fill of heating oil a year ago was, on average, £377.06.