I ordered a tank of heating oil. Then the price more than doubled

Tucked away in the leafy Essex countryside, the last thing David Coverdale thought when he ordered heating oil for his home was the breakout of war.

But the effects of the conflict in Iran, almost 3,000 miles (4,828km) away from his rural property in Finchingfield, are now clear.

Purchasing 1,000 litres (220 gallons) of the oil that warms his house cost £592 on 20 February. Two weeks later, that price had shot up to £1,322.

"I've probably got, if I'm very frugal, less than a week-and-a-half's oil left," Coverdale told the BBC.

He says this has left him with no choice but to pay up, otherwise he faces living in cold conditions.

Prices skyrocketed after the Strait of Hormuz, the world's busiest shipping canal, was disrupted amid the US-Israeli war with Iran, which began on 28 February.

Coverdale's frustrations have been compounded by the fact that he has already paid the original price he was quoted in February.

However, the order was cancelled and he was handed the larger bill a day before the oil was due to be delivered.

"I'm very angry because the contract I had has not been honoured and there is no reason for it not to be honoured," says Coverdale, who has heated his home with oil for 53 years.

"I think that's an absolutely appalling way to do a business, it's unforgiveable."

Coverdale's oil supplier, Sewells Fuel, has not responded to the BBC's request for a comment.

Huge price spikes are also leaving houses using heating oil vulnerable to theft.

Suffolk Police says several properties in Woodbridge have been hit by criminals trying to source the fuel.

John Birchall, who lives in Hollesley, on the east Suffolk coast, checked his tank last week to find out his heating oil had been stolen, and that of his neighbour.

The commercial property surveyor estimates about 800 litres (175 gallons) was taken from his tank, which holds about 1,225 litres (270 gallons).

Birchall relies on the oil to heat his home and water, supplemented by wood burners and solar panels.

His supplier has already refilled the tank - and he has increased its security.

"Historically, I've paid as little as about 20p a litre during Covid, generally between 50p and 60p a litre - and this time it was £1.30 a litre," he says.

"Values are so high now they sell it on very quickly; these are the unintended consequences of the war in Iran."

Officers are urging people to make their tanks less visible and be wary about rogue traders selling oil at a discounted price.

One in five homes in the East of England are not connected to the gas grid, according to figures from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

It represents one of the highest proportions in the country, with about 576,000 out of 2.84 million homes relying on alternative heating sources.

David Phillips' home in the village of Terling, near Hatfield Peverel in Essex, is among them.

He too has experienced the surging cost of trying to keep his house warm in recent weeks, with 500 litres (110 gallons) of oil costing him double what it did previously.

"You immediately start to think, 'Am I being treated unfairly here? Is somebody taking advantage of the price hikes going on?'," Phillips says.

"Clearly this is not a one-off. Our village hub has seen a whole raft of people saying they've had orders cancelled and being told they'll just have to reorder [at a higher price]."

Phillips suspects some companies may be profiteering from the war in Iran, and has raised the issue with Trading Standards.

He adds: "There's got to be thousands of people that are in this position and somebody is going to be benefitting from this."

Camilla Ridd, a single mother from Mattishall in Norfolk, says uncertainty about oil led to her borrowing money from both her mother and 94-year-old grandfather.

She paid Goff Petroleum £427 for half a tank on 2 March, but says the company went on to give "a load of spiel about the war" and told her she needed to pay more or have the order cancelled.

However, she says: "They wouldn't give me an exact figure until the day before a delivery date."

Goff, which is based in Wymondham and supports depots in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, says it was reacting to a surge in orders and price rises.

But it backtracked on its stance and decided to honour orders, admitting passing on higher costs to customers has caused "frustration and concern".

In an email to customers, the company writes: "We've chosen to take steps that support you even though they involve a significant cost to us, and we will be honouring your order, despite the wholesale price of fuel to us more than doubling."

Ben Goldsborough, the Labour MP for South Norfolk, tells the BBC he has been sharing suspected bad practice with the Competitions and Markets Authority.

"I'm fuming about this - I've had constituents in tears," he says.

"I think it's important that, if we do see any price-gouging effects, these companies need to know that we will investigate them.

"If they've tried to run rough-shod over households then they will be found out."

Oil and gas prices did fall sharply on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump said the war in Iran was "very complete, pretty much".

Crude reached $120 (£89.28) a barrel on Monday, but dropped back to below $90 (£66.96) after Trump's comments.

However, prices are still significantly higher than they were before the conflict.

Tim Buckman, chief executive officer of oil provider Boiler Juice, says supply uncertainty and "a disproportionate amount of demand" has created a perfect storm.

He says of suppliers: "There's so much volatility in the price, that if they're unsure what they're buying it for then they need to make sure they don't sell it at a loss.

"Again, that's contributing to higher prices as a result of the demand and the volatility."

Both Phillips and Coverdale used Boiler Juice, which says it is the middle man rather than being responsible for any price hikes.

Buckman advises people to make smaller purchases and conserve fuel where possible during this period of uncertainty.

He adds: "Obviously, what's going on in the Middle East has massively impacted things."

Additional reporting by Laura Devlin and Katy Prickett.

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