Impact of Home Heating Oil Price Surge on Northern Ireland Households
Many households across Northern Ireland are experiencing significant financial pressure due to a sharp increase in home heating oil prices. One pensioner reported spending nearly her entire monthly pension on a single oil refill.
The rise in global oil prices follows Iran's recent military strikes across the Middle East, which were responses to ongoing attacks by the US and Israel.
In Northern Ireland, the average cost for 500 litres of home heating oil increased by 45% within a single week.
Pauline Buller shared that she paid £786 for 800 litres of oil, marking an increase of over £300 in just a few days.
"I'm a pensioner, we get paid every four weeks - my oil fill has just taken three and a half weeks of my four weeks,"
Pauline added,
"We're lucky in that we're two pensioners.
If you can imagine a single pensioner in their own house, how on earth are they going to feed themselves as well as getting oil?
If you've no other income other than a four-weekly pension coming in, you're stuffed."
Residing in the County Antrim village of Aghalee, Pauline noted that there are limited alternatives to using home heating oil in her area.
With the price hike affecting numerous homes, NI has spoken to several individuals impacted by the situation and provides comprehensive information on the matter.
'I paid £286 and it's now £526'
Gareth Barker, a resident of Portadown, expressed concern about the escalating situation in the Middle East and consequently ordered home heating oil on a recent Saturday.
"We had filled up before Christmas, but we just about had room for what I bought on Saturday - 400 litres," he explained.
"We paid £286 for 400 litres on Saturday and that was delivered first thing on Monday morning and it subsequently has gone up to £526 when I checked the same company yesterday [Thursday]."
He is aware of elderly individuals who keep their heating on for most of the day.
"If you're elderly you're going to want your heating on at some point in the day but at what point do people turn round and say I have to choose between heating and eating?"
'A lot of fear out there'
In Londonderry, Eilish O'Doherty works at Older People North West, a drop-in centre serving elderly residents.
She described a significant level of anxiety among older people regarding the rising cost of home heating oil.
"It has been a very cold and damp winter, they were panicking any way - hopefully the spring kicks in now and the weather gets a bit warmer,"
she said.
"But even at that they're saying it's going to cost them the same to heat their homes when the temperature does get higher than a month or fortnight ago.
So they're facing a very uncertain period of time and it's caused an awful lot of worry amongst older people."
Prevalence of Home Heating Oil Use in Northern Ireland
Nearly two-thirds of households (62.5%) in Northern Ireland rely on oil for heating, the highest proportion among UK nations.
The Consumer Council reports that approximately 500,000 homes in Northern Ireland use heating oil, while about 284,000 use natural gas.
By comparison, only 3% of households in England and Wales use oil as their sole central heating source, and this figure is 5% in Scotland, according to the 2021 census.
Support Measures from Oil Suppliers
Some companies supplying heating oil are offering assistance to customers affected by the price surge.
ABC Fuels, based in Craigavon, provides support to regular elderly customers who have been impacted by the increased costs.
Chris Lavery of ABC Fuels stated,
"The older generation are actually quite good at keeping their oil topped up, but there are a few pensioners that can't afford to do that, so buy smaller amounts when they can."
"They may have budgeted for a certain amount, but find it out of reach with the sharp increases.
We are giving our regular elderly customers a bit of time to pay if they need it to save them going without.
Also, a lot are not able to check their own levels, so we will call in and check it for them when we are in the area to give them a bit of reassurance."
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive operates an oil savings network that is free to join and available to all households, whether owners or renters.
However, the network is currently suspended.
Emma Stubbs, assistant director of sustainable homes at the Housing Executive, explained that due to ongoing price volatility and increased demand,
"it is difficult to operate as normal."
Current Home Heating Oil Prices in Northern Ireland
The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland releases weekly average prices for home heating oil every Thursday.
On 5 March, the average prices were £347 for 300 litres, £556 for 500 litres, and £948 for 900 litres.
These figures represent a significant increase compared to the previous week, when prices were £202, £307, and £537 respectively.
Reasons for High Reliance on Home Heating Oil in Northern Ireland
Professor David Rooney from Queen's University Belfast's School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, who researches energy systems, provided insight into the regional heating fuel preferences.
He noted that the gas industry in Great Britain has a longer history, whereas Northern Ireland adopted gas more recently.
"It grew quickly in GB during the 1970s due to the North Sea fields, but gas was only introduced to Northern Ireland in 1996," he explained.
"The grid is still being developed here and even places like Lisburn only had the option in the last few years."
He highlighted issues related to convenience for consumers.
"Basically, if a boiler lasts you 15 years or so then you will likely wait quite some time to consider swapping out oil for gas,"
he said.
"This is where the incentives are needed and price comes into play.
On average oil is cheaper to use for heating than gas, so you will need to want to pay more because it is lower carbon, smaller footprint and cheaper than electric cooking etc."
Professor Rooney also mentioned the rural-urban population distribution differences between Northern Ireland and England.
"While around 85% of the population in England live in urban areas, that reduces to around 64% in Northern Ireland," he said.
"The more rural you are the more likely you are to use oil."
Utility Regulator's Role and Home Heating Oil Prices
The Utility Regulator in Northern Ireland oversees the regulation of electricity, gas, water, and sewerage industries but does not regulate home heating oil.
John French, chief executive of the Utility Regulator, stated,
"Regulation is what we do, if the assembly was to decide that oil was to be regulated [we would]."
"If politicians wanted us to regulate the home heating oil market we could do that, so it's really a political decision to decide whether heating oil is regulated.
But we cannot reduce the price below what the fundamentals of the market is."
Outlook for Gas Prices
John French also commented on the future of gas prices, which largely depends on the duration of the current conflict involving Iran.
"If it lasts a month, gas prices shouldn't rise rapidly," he said.
"But when we saw the price increases after the Ukraine war when it was a sustained price increase you might see price increases in the gas market and the electricity market.
Heating oil is like your petrol pump, you pay what's on the price, what gas companies do is they spread it, so they buy a little bit every month for 24 months, 18 months.
So the gas you're using today, some of it was bought 24 months ago.
There shouldn't be the spikes that you see in petrol and diesel and heating oil."
