Heating oil price surge with Middle East oil pump overlay.
Home heating oil firms are facing mounting cost pressures as rising crude and diesel prices tied to Middle East tensions squeeze margins and disrupt operations across New England.
The recent spike follows a cold winter that boosted demand for heating oil, leaving both consumers and suppliers exposed to higher costs. Businesses say they are trying to avoid passing those increases on to customers, even as expenses climb sharply.
Andrew Chesney, owner of Southern New Hampshire Energy, said they had to lower prices to get phones ringing. People are holding off on auto deliveries because the prices are so high.
Heating oil providers say volatility in energy markets is complicating planning, as rising crude prices coincide with surging diesel costs needed to fuel delivery fleets.
Chesney said a month ago it cost around $8,000 to fill up one of their delivery trucks with diesel, and today it’s between $12,000 and $15,000. Between filling up four trucks and getting all the necessary oil and fuel, it costs Southern New Hampshire Energy around $50,000 a day.
Some companies are implementing new policies to manage rising costs. In Massachusetts, Atlantic Oil Company posted a disclaimer on their website saying: “Due to recent and ongoing events in the Middle East, we have currently suspended any deliveries below 125 gallons. We have also added a surcharge of $40 for any orders that take less than the 125 gallon minimum.”
Ted Triandafilou, General Manager of Atlantic Oil Company, said long-time customers are saying they can’t pay, and the company tries to help them with payment plans.
Triandafilou said his company is experiencing a similar jump in diesel costs. Depending on the size of the truck, it could be over $12,000 to fill the truck up as it may have been, you know, $5,000-$6,000 about a month ago.
Both operators said daily price swings are adding to uncertainty. Chesney said prices are increasing and decreasing anywhere from 10 cents to 25 cents a day right now with everything going on in the world.
Triandafilou said the prices go up in the morning – let’s say, jump 20, 30 cents, crazy numbers – and then slowly during the day, they’ll drop back down, but by the close of the market, they’re back up again. He added that it’s getting to the point where he doesn’t even bother displaying the price outside because he’d just be running out and changing it again.
According to AAA, the average cost for a gallon of diesel on March 20 was $5.15, approaching the record average of $5.80 in 2022.
AAA spokesperson Mark Schieldrop said the last time diesel prices were this high was in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine. He added that the current situation is a little bit different because we’re seeing significant impacts on production and cargo flows out of the Strait of Hormuz being impacted, so there are some long-term impacts here.
Schieldrop said that the record could be broken if the conflict continues. Even if the conflict ended today, the prices wouldn’t drop tomorrow.
Schieldrop urges folks to try to drive less, stack your trips, and drive more economically to ease up on the gas pedal and increase fuel economy.
For homeowners, demand may ease in the coming months as warmer weather reduces heating needs. But for businesses, the seasonal slowdown brings its own challenges.
Chesney said they’re coming into their slower season, so everyone’s going to be holding off on getting home heating oil till winter. He added that it’s going to start slowing down for their employees, and they’re going to go through a struggle running a business and keeping things going till the prices lower down.
Companies like Southern New Hampshire Energy are relying on other services, including plumbing, heating and cooling, to offset seasonal declines in fuel demand.
Chesney encourages people to support local businesses like theirs, as they are a family-owned and operated company just trying to make their way through life right now.
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