Prime Minister Truss announces help for heating oil

Francis63

I need to top my tank up now, there's not much oil left. It's going to cost a thousand pounds. 
How/when do we get this help?
Do I wait, or go ahead and top up?

wwally

You could fill up with 500 litres?

I think it will be some weeks before this all gets clarified, and anyway the scheme probably will not start until 1st October.

dunstonh

How/when do we get this help?

Has yet to be announced

Do I wait, or go ahead and top up?

Its still warm and oil use is likely to be very low.  So, hold on for the moment, if you can.

However, also be prepared for disappointment as the wording suggests it may be means tested in some way.

Francis63

dunstonh said:

However, also be prepared for disappointment as the wording suggests it may be means tested in some way.

Thanks, do you know where I can find that wording? 

dunstonh

Francis63 said:

dunstonh said:

However, also be prepared for disappointment as the wording suggests it may be means tested in some way.

Thanks, do you know where I can find that wording? 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support/energy-bills-support-factsheet-8-september-2022

The key things are

1 - There is no mention of oil on the website

2 - it refers to "Those households not on standard gas or electricity contracts" - most people on oil are also on electric

3 - the reference is to a discretionary fund.  i.e. there will be discretion on whom gets paid.

wwally

dunstonh said:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support/energy-bills-support-factsheet-8-september-2022

The key things are

1 - There is no mention of oil on the website

2 - it refers to "Those households not on standard gas or electricity contracts" - most people on oil are also on electric

3 - the reference is to a discretionary fund.  i.e. there will be discretion on whom gets paid.

1. Heating oil was explicitly mentioned in the PM's speech in Parliament (LPG was not)

2. I think the best assumption is that (nearly) everyone is on mains electricity but the main heating fuel can be mains gas, LPG, heating oil, wood pellets etc and all such fuel prices will be controlled so that users achieve equivalent benefits.

3. Yes, the word discretionary is puzzling unless explained, which it has not been yet!

Russ_way

heating oil is going down according to https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/kj5u/mm23

I've recently started to get  quotes every day on Boiler Juice and now 85p a litre (when ordering 700litres)

should we wait ? 

wwally

Russ_way said:

heating oil is going down according to https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/kj5u/mm23

I've recently started to get  quotes every day on Boiler Juice and now 85p a litre (when ordering 700litres)

should we wait ? 

Impossible to answer that question!

You have to weigh market volatility, the effect of the Energy Price Guarantee (not yet detailed), the normal Autumn surge in demand/prices, how heating oil suppliers will play the market, how long you can wait, dollar exchange rate....

For me, with maybe 25% full tank but not using much at the moment, I will wait a month for either global prices to continue to fall, and/or the govt to announce its EPG measures for heating oil.

mumf

It’s an interesting conundrum. We are all electric,and our primary heating is solid fuel. Smokeless coal has risen in price. Will I get help? Of course not. How far does government have to bail folks out?

NedS

We'll be holding off until the Government announce more details of the scheme and how it may affect users of heating oil. I'm sure she mentioned those on heating oil in her announcement speech.

NedS

I thought I'd look at some rough numbers for this.

Liz Truss' speech is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-liz-trusss-opening-speech-on-the-energy-policy-debate

She said:

For those using heating oil, living in park homes or those on heat networks, we will set up a fund so that all UK consumers can benefit from equivalent support.

So lets look at some prices and work out what "equivalent support" may look like:

A litre of kerosene produces 10.35kWh of energy

Under the April to Sept price cap, gas was priced at 7p per kWh. The old price cap for April to September was set at £1971/year and will rise to £2500/year for the average consumer - an increase of 26.8%.

If we apply a 26.8% increase to the cost of gas under the April price cap (7p) we get a price of 8.9p per kWh

An equivalent price for oil would be 92p per litre giving a comparable 8.9p per kWh, which is not far off the current price, so I think it is unlikely us oil users would get much help at present, but may do so if the price of kerosene were to rise sharply.