No reason to panic, but high prices are a concern for oil heating users.
If you only focus on the numbers, nothing paints a clearer picture of the recent spike in the heating oil price than the Sutherland Tables data for the last quarter.
For anyone who relies on heating oil, the increases are significant. In Great Britain, the average annual cost was 43% higher than the previous quarter, and 76% higher than the same period the previous year.
In Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the increases were of a lower, but still significant magnitude. The average cost in Great Britain was the highest ever recorded, eclipsing the previous high in June 2022, caused by the war in Ukraine. That war is again the trigger for a sharp increase is not a coincidence – the present conflict directly impacts global energy supplies.
The figures do not tell the whole story of how oil heating customers are affected.
Because users have their own fuel storage, the extent to which they are affected depends on when they need to refill your tank. If you bought fuel early in the year, or after the middle of June, you would have largely escaped the price rises – for now. It is also worth noting that the highest prices occurred at a time when fuel use is relatively low, and that increases for some other fuels have not yet fed through into the market. That said, the situation is not ideal and will have caused considerable difficulty for some oil heating customers.
With renewed conflict breaking out again in late July, we must all hope for a quick resolution and resumption of reliable supply. It’s possible to obtain fuel from other parts of the world, but increased competition means higher prices and, with autumn fast approaching, a prolonged hike will be difficult for our customers and potentially damaging for confidence in our industry.
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Fuel price commentary – Autumn 2026
No reason to panic, but high prices are a concern for oil heating users.
If you only focus on the numbers, nothing paints a clearer picture of the recent spike in the heating oil price than the Sutherland Tables data for the last quarter.
For anyone who relies on heating oil, the increases are significant. In Great Britain, the average annual cost was 43% higher than the previous quarter, and 76% higher than the same period the previous year.
In Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the increases were of a lower, but still significant magnitude. The average cost in Great Britain was the highest ever recorded, eclipsing the previous high in June 2022, caused by the war in Ukraine. That war is again the trigger for a sharp increase is not a coincidence – the present conflict directly impacts global energy supplies.
The figures do not tell the whole story of how oil heating customers are affected.
Because users have their own fuel storage, the extent to which they are affected depends on when they need to refill your tank. If you bought fuel early in the year, or after the middle of June, you would have largely escaped the price rises – for now. It is also worth noting that the highest prices occurred at a time when fuel use is relatively low, and that increases for some other fuels have not yet fed through into the market. That said, the situation is not ideal and will have caused considerable difficulty for some oil heating customers.
With renewed conflict breaking out again in late July, we must all hope for a quick resolution and resumption of reliable supply. It’s possible to obtain fuel from other parts of the world, but increased competition means higher prices and, with autumn fast approaching, a prolonged hike will be difficult for our customers and potentially damaging for confidence in our industry.