Economy minister pledges look at 'extremely expensive' home heating oil drums for sale at garage forecourts in Northern Ireland
The sale of expensive emergency home heating oil drums at garage forecourts will be part of any future response to recommendations to regulate the market, Stormont’s economy minister has said.
Caoimhe Archibald told the News Letter that the practice is one part of what makes the Northern Ireland heating oil market different, and consumer protections should reflect that.
A report by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) this week found that prices tend to be lowest in Northern Ireland, where over 60% of households rely on heating oil. However, it said there are gaps in protections for consumers, and proposed a “register for vulnerable households to make it easier to protect them”.
Unlike gas and electric, which can be topped up by small amounts, home heating oil deliveries require a comparatively large order for delivery. This results in some customers paying way over the odds for 20 litre drums at garage forecourts.
One drum can cost £35 – £1.75 per litre. That’s compared to just over 90 pence per litre for a 300ltr delivery.
The CMA report did receive feedback about emergency heating oil drums sold at forecourts, but did not receive concerns to warrant the practice being a part of its market study published this week. It found that lower-volume purchasing options are generally more widely available in NI than in GB.
The economy minister said: “The Consumer Council advises consumers to avoid buying 20 litre emergency oil drums from forecourts as a regular means of topping up their oil tank as they are extremely expensive and should only be used in emergency circumstances. Forecourt sale of home heating oil is one of the aspects of the market here that is different and it is important that consumer protection takes account of these differences. As such, this will be considered as part of any future response to the recommendations made by the CMA.”
David Blevings from the Northern Ireland Oil Federation says the industry body does not advocate the use of heating oil drums to heat your home.
“These are for emergency use only and should be used as such, with an order being placed with a distributor as soon as possible”, he said.