Rise in fuel prices shows signs of slowing down as home heating oil drops across Northern Ireland
The latest weekly survey of pump prices in Northern Ireland is not exactly good news for motorists, but it is at least less bleak than in previous weeks since the Iran conflict began.
Diesel and petrol are, once again, both up, but by notably less than previous weeks.
At the same time the price of home heating oil has actually come down, though it remains at a very high level.
This is the upshot of the lastest price poll by the government-funded Consumer Council, which has looked at pump prices in 28 towns and cities, as well as the average cost of 300, 500, and 900-litre loads of heating oil.
The average cost of petrol is now 154p per litre, up by 0.5% on a week before, and diesel now stands at 188.1p per litre, up by 1.3% on a week earlier.
Here are the previous three weeks’ figures and their weekly rises:
April 9:
Petrol: 153.1ppl (up 2.6%)
Diesel: 185.6ppl (up 4.3%)
April 2:
Petrol: 149.1ppl (up 3.1%)
Diesel: 177.8ppl (up 4.7%)
March 26:
Petrol: 144.6ppl (up 4.5%)
Diesel: 169.7ppl (up 7.3%)
Since February 26, the last survey date before the Iran war began, petrol is now up by 23.3% and diesel is up by 41.8%.
The average weekly petrol rise has been 3.2%, and the average diesel rise has been 5.9%.
The website boilerjuice.com also tracks red diesel prices, and today has it averaging at 124.87ppl in Northern Ireland (excluding VAT).
Just before the war began, it had been 77.9ppl (excluding VAT).
Turning to home heating oil, the average price of 500 litres is now £574.75 – down by 6.2% on the week before.
The weekly price has dipped a couple of times since the start of March, but only fractionally: this is by far the biggest dip yet.
Mind you, the price of 500 litres still remains some 86.9% higher now than it was before the Iran war began.
The Consumer Council now lists the following averages for the Province:
300 litres: £359.74
500 litres: £574.75
900 litres: £1,016.77
In addition, the News Letter has sampled the price of 500 litres from six different firms, one in each county. Today they stood at:
North Down: £546
North Armagh: £545.48
Mid-Antrim: £570.68
South Tyrone: £568.04
Londonderry city: £584
West Fermanagh: £550.