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PRESS RELEASES
29 April 2009
NIOF meets with Consumer Council
The Northern Ireland Oil Federation (NIOF) met with the Consumer Council on Friday 3 April 2009 to review the home heating oil market, and to share views and understanding from both the industry and consumer perspective. Speaking after the meeting, Eleanor Gill Chief Executive of the Consumer Council said, “The Consumer Council and NIOF are committed to working together to ensure a common understanding of the home heating oil market, its impact on consumers and the challenges for local oil distributors. It is a relief to see that the cost to fill a 900 litre tank with home heating oil has dropped by 41 per cent since August 2008. This means that consumers now have an extra £211 in their pockets which is good news for the 75 per cent of households in Northern Ireland using home heating oil, and particularly important for those people who are finding it hard to heat their homes and make ends meet”. David Blevings said, “The Oil Federation is committed to working with the Consumer Council to share information and analysis on factors and trends affecting the oil industry. The price reduction in the last 6 months is very welcome news for oil consumers in the current economic climate. The latest independent Sutherland figures show that consumers in Northern Ireland buy their home heat product at 4 per cent below the United Kingdom average, and 10 per cent lower than the Republic of Ireland. This proves the competitive and transparent market which the local distributors operate in. With over 250 oil distributors here, competition is healthy and pricing both transparent and open.”