Donald Potter said he got a shock when he ordered oil to heat the bungalow near Grimsby he shares with his wife.
Potter bought oil in January at a price of 60p per litre. Last Monday, he said he ordered a refill and the price had risen to 96.5p per litre.
That resulted in a £200 increase in the usual cost of refilling his tank, he said.
Potter questioned why the price had risen so rapidly, just days after the war began, adding: “Surely, that oil that I ordered must have been in the UK already. Why has it gone up so fast?”
However, Lambert said distributors do not keep a stock of oil and only buy in what they need to fulfil the next day’s order.
“We are just milk men. We are wholly dependent on the price and supply that is presented to us. It has been just increase after increase,” he explained.
“It normally causes a big shock if the price rises by one pence in a day. On Tuesday, we saw it rise by 28p on that day alone.”
Lambert said he felt positive about the most recent price falls.
He said: “My biggest concern is that we might have to ration people. I want people to be sensible so that we don’t have to do that.
“This is a very precarious supply chain.”
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