Cheaper Oil for Fuel?

home-heating-oil wrote: »

Thanks Max.. I forgot to add that the other serious issue about using the Internet is that some websites offer services that they do not control. A good reference for this is golocatefuel. They promised delivery but actually had/have no control over the supply chain. Not sure if they are just scammers, as they cited suppliers they have no relationship with, but the issue remains if you buy from anyone, who is not the end supplier, you are at the mercy of the end supplier and not the company you pay!

Personally I believe that the heating price will drop. I note that BJ dropped prices almost immediately following the profiteering and price fixing reports. For interest they dropped from around 70ppl to 60ppl over the weekend of 8/9th January. Maybe a coincidence? The lowest quote we were informed off today was for 56ppl in Essex. However, this was for a consortium placing a 79,000 litre order. I have asked them to create an article about how they created their buying group which we will publish to help other consumers create local "buying groups" for themselves.

Amazing how their price has dropped isn't it :rotfl:. Out of interest I did a quote for 1000 litres on BJ just now and it is now 58.9ppl (DT postcode), yesterday it was still 69.9ppl (still has a ridiculous delivery timescale of 'on or before 9th February). feel so sorry for those that got stung by this company. Suppose looking at the 'News' section on there, it's a bit of a giveaway that they aren't neutral it's full of what I would call 'scaremongering' artcles.

Max_Dread wrote: »

Interesting stuff...... What exactly do you mean by "peak oil"? I'm guessing that it has something to do with the fact we are running out of oil globally, but was not sure....

See thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2912096

We have recently started using Rix Oil and after an initial order have opened a budget account. We pay £83 per month for 2400 litres of oil over 12 months working out at approx 0.42 per litre.

The MP for Oxford, Tony Baldry, has received a reply from the OFT. They say they can find no evidence of a cartel!!! http://heating-oil.blogs-uk.co.uk/oft-no-evidence-cartel-oil-companies/

home-heating-oil wrote: »

The MP for Oxford, Tony Baldry, has received a reply from the OFT. They say they can find no evidence of a cartel!!!

Me thinks somebody's asleep at the wheel of the OFT!

Firstly, during the big freeze there was a price differential of up to 20ppl between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Some fuel suppliers may try and defend increased fuel price upon the basis of an increase in wholesale prices, exchange rate volatility etc. However, the reality is that as Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, these factors will impact upon prices no differently in the province to the rest of the UK.

Secondly, even after the big freeze has ended, there is still a significant differential between Northern Ireland and the Mainland. Prices for 900 litres of Kerosene from DCC Boilerjuice.com today:

£530.04 (West Midlands, WS3 Post Code)
£477.04 (Belfast, BT12 Post Code)

Therefore, by having oil heating in the West Midlands you're paying around 11% more than you would be paying buying exactly the same heating oil as you would if you lived in Northern Ireland.

Thirdly, the price comparison in Northern Ireland is only half the story. If I'm prepared to forego Ken Bruce voiceovers, promises of group savings and an offer to join a Heating Oil Savings Scheme... then I can get an even cheaper price for my heating oil in Northern Ireland. Via CheapestOil(.)co(.)uk, I can get my oil delivered to Belfast for £465 from Lagan Oils... a saving of £12.04 over DCC Boilerjuice.

For anyone whose wondering the significance of Northern Ireland prices compared with the Mainland, its that a significant proportion of oil sold in the province originates in Great Britain. Therefore, one would expect the cost of oil in the province to be significantly higher in the province, than on the Mainland once the costs of shipping, storage and transport are taken into consideration.

However, the reverse is the case and heating oil costs less after a jaunt across the Irish Sea than it did before it....

So what's the difference? Well as Northern Ireland has the highest prevalence of oil heating in the UK, there are proportionately more heating oil customers and therefore many more fuel distributors on a comparable basis to the Mainland to the point whereby there are quite possibly more independent fuel distributors in the province than in the rest of the UK combined.

Finally, what disturbs me even more than allegations of rip off pricing is the ease with which many fuel distributors are happy to share pricing information with their competitors. If I look on another DCC website, FuelOilDirect(.)co(.)uk, I'll find independent fuel oil suppliers who seemingly are quite happy to share their pricing information with DCC. Now why would any company in any market wish to share its prices with its principal competitor? I mean what possible benefit could there be for either company?

But hey, according to the OFT there's no sign that anything is wrong in the heating oil market... so that must mean that everything's alright then