The price of home heating oil in Northern Ireland has fallen to its lowest level in almost a month.
The latest daily market survey from the Consumer Council revealed the average order of 500 litres of kerosene fell by more than £11 (2%) on Friday to £546.85.
That was the sharpest daily drop in home heating oil prices in the north since mid-June.
The Northern Ireland price average had reached around £579 for 500 litres last week.
The Consumer Council’s daily home heating oil survey also revealed the average price of 900 litres dropped by £19 on Friday to £972.56, while the average order of 300 litres fell 2% (£6.80) to £336.89.
The falling price of kerosene follows a sharp decline in the price of Brent crude oil.
Brent crude, which had been trending around $115 per barrel last week, dropped to $94 on Thursday, the steepest weekly decline since March 2020.
It follows renewed hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East to resolve what the International Energy Agency has called the world’s biggest ever supply disruption.
While the price of home heating oil appears to be coming down from the recent surge, households are still paying considerably more than they did prior to the latest Middle East crisis.
An order of 500 litres of home heating oil had averaged around £307 in late February before the offensive launched against Tehran by the US and Israel.
Meanwhile, the latest weekly road fuel survey by the Consumer Council showed the average price of diesel remained unchanged this week at 190.3p.
Petrol prices however, appeared to come down by around 2p this week to £163.3p.
The average price at the pumps is still between 30p and 40p per litre more expensive in Northern Ireland compared to the period prior to the Iran crisis.