Heating oil dropping like a stone

bobmedley

OPEC have made statements in the past that $70 per barrel is a fair price, and that is approximately where we are at the moment (it's $68 today). Also note that the 52 week forecast is $78 per barrel.

It hit $68 in April 2006, and I bought oil that month at a cost of 36.95p per litre - I just paid 39.71p, so there is some sort of correlation.

It's nonsense to think we will ever go back to 12p a litre - I prefer to look at how competitive the kilowatt cost is, which for me at the moment is 4.78p.

This is substantially better than electricity, and possibly everything else (heat pumps aside) apart from gas and even that is getting close I suppose with the latest price rises.

Also, half the fun of oil is trying to buck the market and act as your own little oil trader, whereas with other fuels you just get stuck with a bill and there is little to be done to reduce the cost substantially.

So, my humble opinion is that oil currently is at a fair price compared to the alternatives;)

I await everybody disagreeing with me.

Lynt_3

I paid 49 + vat 4 weeks ago. I thought I would top up, now that the price is so low (ha ha ha), and I was quoted 46p + vat.

I am fed up with the whole thing now :mad:
At 60$ a barrel, shouldn't we be paying a lot less than 4 weeks ago???

I didn't follow the order through.

oap

Well then, it is time they scrapped the EU!!:mad:

N9eav

A fair price?

I had oil heating installed in 2003. My first bill for 1000 litres was £170. The general average after that was 34-38p litre. I would be happy with 30's as an average. Less would be better, but we do use less oil now saving me some money a year. I used to burn 2500 in a year, but being miserly I can get away with 1500 or so. Depends how cold it is. This winter forcast looks to be a cold one....

First step to saving oil is to check your timer settings. Most of the time you over heat your house. Set it for an hour in the morning so it's warm when you wake up. If you need more cos it's a Sunday and you don't go to church then boost it. Don't set the time for the evenings. If it's cold then boost it for an hour or so. It's a pretty crummy idea, but it does save 1000 litres a year

oap

Yes quite right, we already do that more or less. We have 11 radiators and live in a dormer bungalow, some of them are doubles.(there are two in the lounge!) Also two heated towel rails.

We have the one off in the conservatory except for frost protection and keep the doors from the house closed to it, the sun does a good job and we go in there at every opportunity.
We have stats on all the radiators as well and they are set at economy.

We have the heating on 8.15 to 10 in the morning and 6 to 9 in the evening, and have double glazing, and cavity wall insulation etc, so cannot do much more, then as you say may put it on for a hour during the day if it is very cold.

We have an electric convector fire in the fireplace in the lounge which only goes on if very cold, and a little convector in our breakfast room which is put on from time to time in the winter.

The rest of the time we go out for a walk,or if busy round the house you do not notice it that much, but as we get older we tend to sit a bit more in the winter.

We buy as I said in previous post two tanks a year, usually with 900 litres at a time,,but this time got 1000 not knowing what to expect in the future.

Of course it all depends on what size of house you have and how many rooms,but we tend to have the guest bedroom radiator off, just on a tiny bit as a frost protector, the dining room one the same, and the conservatory, and the hall turned right down. Depending on ones age, I can remember ice on the inside of the windows when I was a child and my mum and gran did not die of hypothermia!! We had one fire in one room!!

Will need extra woolies on this winter!! It is very very cold this morning with a very cold wind which also cools the house down however much insulation there is.

I still think the Government should try and do something along with other governments to stop the oil countries taking us for a ride!!

Best wishes, oap

garygumps

Well i'm glad you're all getting oil for under 40p a litre!!!!

Current average price here in Northern Ireland is still well above 40p.

My supplier is currently quoting £552 for 1200ltr (which is how much I get 3 times a year) which equates to 46p.

Interestingly, the local Office of Fair Trading over here has warned the local companies that they are looking at filing a Super Complaint about the true cost of heating oil in Northern Ireland.

No smoke without fire eh!!

Its obvious that the cost of heating oil coming down is painfully slow compared with petrol which gets all the headlines.

N9eav

Diesel is the same. It did not come down at all. It is now 70p a gallon difference in price between petrol. They say it's all to do with demand for the heavy oils such as diesel and kerosene.

Why is electricity not dropping?

N9eav

Oil moving down again. Slowly though. 40p in my area today.

lowbrim

Cheapest I can get in Swindon area today is 39.9 which is 2p down on last week but with oil prices still falling I might chance my arm and wait a little longer. Boilerjuice is at 41.5.

garygumps

My current price 43p inc VAT. Was 48p a week ago, so moving in the right direction.

Crude oil price (Brent Crude) has been consistently under $60 a barrel for most of this month so prices should be continuing downwards. Dont hold your breath though as we will have the old seasonal demand keeping prices high excuse to justify higher prices.

As I've said before, when my oil was around this current price in January, the crude oil price was over $20 a barrel more.

Call me cynical!!!