Why has the price of heating oil gone through the roof?

[pdq1]

Just got a quote and the price has gone up by more than 9p/litre in the past week yet petrol prices have been coming down.

[pdq1]

Maybe there is a link with electricity prices going up this week by more than 10%

[buildersmate]

By my reckoning it is up about 4.5p/l in the last month. It increased about 2.5p/l in the same period last year. This always happens around Xmas - too many folks attempting to order in the period just before Xmas. It is partly due to short term supply / demand, but I (in common with many others) reckon the market is being manipulated by the wholesalers and traders.

When crude oil is cracked, different proportions of the fractions are produced, depending on the oil source and how it is cracked (within constraints). Petrol is a different fraction to heating oil, which is more akin to road diesel.

Nothing at all to do with recent electricity price increases (though some electricity is produced from oil).

[pdq1]

I get my figures from Boiler Juice and a quote today shows it has really shot up. I admit Xmas has something to do with it. Its a well known fact that when gas goes up or vice versa oil prices also go up which dispels the idea of cheap gas when shale gas is produced in large quantities.

They have got us over a barrel!