 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
PRESS RELEASES
14 January 2009
Home Heat Price drop is good news for oil consumer
The price of home heating oil for 900 litres has fallen by approx. 45% since the beginning of July 2008. David Blevings from the NI Oil Federation commented, “The price reduction in the last 6 months has been very welcome news for oil consumers and in particular during the prolonged cold spell. However, we saw a short term ‘spike’ in prices from Monday 5th January due to the markets reaction to the cold weather and increased demand, the Middle East tension and concerns over the Ukraine / Russian gas dispute. The oil market is very sensitive and the availability of information to traders and speculators can change the market within minutes”. “Local oil distributors have no option but to accept and pass on wholesale market increases as they occur. There will always be slight variations in prices between distributors due to differing operating overheads and stocks but on the whole consumers in NI are well served by a very competitive industry.” “The latest independent Sutherland figures published in October 08 shows that consumers in Northern Ireland buy their home heat product at 4% below the UK average and 10% lower than the ROI. This proves the competitive transparent market local distributors operate in and with over 250 oil distributors in Northern Ireland competition is healthy and pricing both transparent and open. Price movements are quickly passed on to ensure distributors retain customers’ loyalty.” added David.