Welsh heating oil prices nearly triple in eight days amid Middle East conflict
Heating oil prices in Wales nearly tripled in eight days following the escalation of the Middle East conflict, leaving thousands of Welsh households facing a surge in costs with no equivalent of the Ofgem price cap to protect them.
Figures from price comparison site Boilerjuice.com show the price per litre in Wales stood at 62.8p on 1 March.
By 9 March it had reached 156.14p, a rise of more than 148% in little over a week. By 12 March prices had pulled back to 130.11p, but remain roughly double where they were at the start of the month.
The Welsh Government confirmed this week that around 7% of Welsh households, roughly one in fourteen, rely on heating oil, and that none of them are covered by the price regulation that protects mains gas and electricity customers.
The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, Rebecca Evans MS (Labour, Mid and West Wales), told the Senedd on Wednesday, the First Minister had written to the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security seeking additional protections for off-grid households.
Ms Evans said the current problem was one of price volatility rather than an outright shortage, but that the behaviour of some suppliers was a concern. “We do know that some suppliers are holding back supply with the aim of profiteering as a result of that,” she told MSs.
The Welsh Government’s letter to the UK Government asked for additional protections for customers outside the Ofgem price cap and for support for businesses facing sustained higher prices.
The UK Government moved on Monday. In a letter dated 9 March, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband wrote to the chief executive of the UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association warning that distributors faced scrutiny if consumers were being treated unfairly.
“The Minister for Energy has today spoken to the CMA who will now gather evidence on the situation in the market and look at whether consumers are being treated fairly,” Mr Miliband wrote. He set out a direct expectation that pricing should remain “fair, transparent and fully justifiable, reflecting genuine market conditions,” and reminded the industry that it remained fully subject to consumer protection and competition law.
The letter followed a conversation between Mr Miliband and consumer campaigner Martin Lewis, who said he had been contacted by households reporting prices that had nearly doubled in a week.
Mr Lewis said he had raised three specific concerns with the Secretary of State: households unable to afford the new prices, the lack of specific regulation covering the heating oil market, and reports of booked deliveries being cancelled and rebooked at higher prices.
He said he would continue pressing the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on the scale of that last problem, and asked households with direct experience to share their accounts.
Check live fuel prices near you before you set off.
The issue was raised in the Senedd on Tuesday by Sioned Williams MS (Plaid Cymru, South Wales West), who said the conflict was “having an immediate impact on households reliant on heating fuel, which is not protected by the price cap,” and that constituents had already told her the cost of heating their homes had “skyrocketed.”
Ms Williams noted that around a quarter of Welsh households were estimated to live in fuel poverty before the current spike, and called on the Welsh Government to set out what mitigation was planned for those least able to absorb higher costs.
Ms Evans said she had spoken directly to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury specifically about heating oil and would be meeting the Confederation of British Industry and the Federation of Small Businesses later in the week. She said both Governments were working together to monitor the situation and planning for a range of outcomes.
No emergency support package for Welsh off-grid households has been announced.
Check live fuel prices near you before you set off.
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