NI MPs to meet with Treasury over 'unique' home heating oil 'challenges'

Northern Ireland MPs are due to hold discussions with the Treasury on Wednesday about the "unique challenges" faced by households which use heating oil.

Global oil prices have risen sharply since Iran began launching strikes across the Middle East in response to attacks by the US and Israel.

In Northern Ireland, the average price of 500 litres of home heating oil saw an 81% increase in a week, according to the consumer council.

Around two thirds of Northern Ireland households use home heating oil.

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said the discussions would "explore further action".

Unlike gas or electricity the heating oil market is unregulated and prices have doubled over the last week.

Rural MPs for some constituencies on Great Britain will also be invited to the meeting.

It comes after the UK energy secretary, Ed Miliband, wrote to a body representing heating oil retailers across the UK.

He said the competition watchdog, the CMA, was gathering evidence in the market and would look at whether consumers were being treated fairly.

He added that the CMA had power to launch investigations into anything relating to unfair contract terms, misleading practices or anti-competitive behaviour.

Last week the body representing heating oil suppliers in Northern Ireland rejected allegations of profiteering saying that higher prices for consumers reflected rising wholesale prices.

The Northern Ireland Executive should provide a support package to help people struggling with high energy costs, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) has said.

O'Toole, the leader of the opposition at Stormont, said his party wasn't being "prescriptive" about the amount of money people should receive, but wanted to urge the executive to "start planning now to help people".

Asked whether he was calling for universal single payment for households - such as the one paid by the UK government in January 2023 - O'Toole said such a measure would be "difficult at this stage".

"I think it could be a limited payment - it could be allocated on the basis of pensioners in receipt of pension credit or households who get relief on their rates bills," he told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

He added that he thought the executive could allocate some of the extra £380m it was given in last week's Spring Statement towards energy bills relief.

It comes as the UK chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will join an emergency meeting of G7 finance ministers later to discuss oil prices.

On Monday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the government was "talking to international partners about what more we can do together to reduce the likely impact on people and businesses".

The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland publishes weekly average home heating oil prices every Thursday.

On 5 March, the average price for 900 litres was £948, up from £536 the previous week. The average price for 500 litres had increased to £556 from £307 and for 300 litres, to £347 from £202.

Almost two-thirds of homes (62.5%) in Northern Ireland use oil for heating - the highest proportion of people among UK nations.

According to the Consumer Council, about 500,000 homes in NI use heating oil and about 284,000 natural gas.

Only 3% of households in England and Wales said oil was their only source of central heating according to a 2021 census, and 5% of households in Scotland.

During the last energy price shock in 2022 the UK government provided considerable support to people in Northern Ireland.

Every NI household eventually got a £600 payment and some energy prices were capped.

With its current budget woes, Stormont will not be able to afford to do anything like that on its own.

In 2022 Stormont did run its own limited scheme, providing £2m of help to the most vulnerable households.

But this time around even that might be a stretch given the executive's struggle to balance its budget.

O'Toole also said "greater priority" should be given to "the transition towards low-carbon and renewable heating sources".

"We need much more pace and priority to de-transition from volatile fossil fuels, which was supposed to be a priority for the executive," he said.

Alliance assembly member David Honeyford told The Nolan Show he agreed about the need to "move away" from fossil fuel dependence.

"Families are completely reliant on fossil fuels and home heating oil and gas," he said.

"We've got to look to move away from that to be energy secure here.

"The Department for the Economy is sitting on their hands on this and we aren't moving fast enough to deliver change."

An energy strategy for Northern Ireland was published by the Department for the Economy in 2021 and set a target of 70% of local electricity supplies coming from renewable sources by 2030.

However, last October a Northern Ireland Audit Office report found "significant flaws" in the implementation of the strategy and said progress against key targets was "lagging considerably".

Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said at the time that her department would be "taking on board the recommendations from the Audit Office and implementing them".