Energy Minister Charles Hendry has predicted that heating oil prices are certain to rise as we go into the winter months.  His comments come following an OFT report that suggests there are questions to be answered by comparison sites, which were not independent, and by unscrupulous suppliers, who charged a higher price than they initially quoted to the customer.

However, I’m pleased to say that the Office of Fair Trading did conclude that the heating oil market remained competitive and did not need price regulation, as I suggested in a previous post .

Commenting on the unseasonably high heating oil prices we have witnessed this summer, Hendry said, “What we have seen this summer is that we haven’t seen the expected drop which one would find. I think after a year when we have had the unrest in the Middle East, it is clear that wholesale prices are higher and therefore it is understandable why that drop hasn’t been so great.”

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Proving so popular that clients are now calling us with questions about other fuels, here is the latest bout in our ‘one-on-one’ comparisons with heating oil prices.

Without further ado, it is time to pitch the nation’s ‘Favourite’ against the reigning Champion. (No, not Gas. If you had gas you wouldn’t opt to use heating oil!)  So, bring it on!  In the red corner…Electricity…In the blue corner…Heating Oil.

Whilst prices have moved since we established our heating oil cost per Kilowatt Hour (Kwh), for fairness to previous competitors I will continue to use the established price of 5.59 pence per Kwh (based on 10 Kwh per litre and a litre price of 55.85p).  Today’s price would be around 5.8p/Kwh.

So, that’s the Champion weighed in, what about the challenger?

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Nine months after the arrival of our ‘Baby’ tanker, TateOil are proud to announce the arrival of twins.

The pair of Daf 75 tankers boast an impressive array of features, including a mighty 20,000 litre capacity, drip-free 50metre hoses and some impressive custom features.  ””Tankers of this size sometimes have problems getting into properties with restricted access” Lance, our transport Manager explains, “but these tankers have a ‘steering’ rear axle, which allows them to manoeuvre round some very tight corners.’

The maneuvrability of the tankers has another benefit; we can now send these wagons out, delivering more heating oil to more properties, per trip.  This reduces the number of trips required and, in turn, our carbon footprint.

The new twins represent our continued expansion and investment in our fleet and services.

Look out for news of a new ‘Emergency Delivery’ vehicle soon.

David Cameron has stated that the Government needs to work “Harder and faster” to reduce the nation’s energy bills.  This comes just ahead of a meeting with the six biggest energy companies, consumer groups and Ofgem.

However, the meeting promises to do little for the millions of heating oil users who have seen heating oil prices soar to all time highs over the last 12 months.

One way the Government could help tackle heating oil prices and the issues of fuel poverty in rural areas, as recently highlighted by M.P. Tim Farron, is to reduce duty on the road diesel heating oil companies use to distribute the fuel.  Rebating duty on fuel used for distributing heating oil would have a significant effect on the onerous costs of distribution and impact upon the pence per litre cost that consumers pay.

Giving further VAT reductions on the fuel would show that the Government is serious about these issues and not just adopting a populist stance.

Reports published today by the BBC, tell of a doubling in the occurrence of heating oil thefts in the Devon and Cornwall area over the last year.  It seems our concerns that, along with the rise in heating oil prices, we would experience a rise in heating oil theft are proving themselves founded.

On the back of this news, we have today contacted three police forces which serve a large area in the heartland of our delivery region.  Neither West, North nor South Yorkshire Police were able to offer figures pertaining to the theft of heating oil in particular, but I was told that ‘anecdotal evidence certainly suggests that numbers of these thefts are on the increase.’

It is possible to request information on the occurrences of Kerosene theft from the forces, but I was reliably informed by two of the three that, even if I were to apply for the info through a ‘Freedom Of Information’ request, there was no requirement for the force to report on this category and that, therefore, information is unlikely to be available.

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Predicted Global Warming may be put on the back burner by the coming of a new Ice Age.  In recent months, top solar physicists have announced that, far from facing the problem of global warming, we could in fact be entering a mini Ice Age within the decade.

Scientists at US National Solar Observatory (NSO) and US Air Force Research Laboratory have discovered, following three analyses of our Sun’s recent activity, that a period of ‘unusually low solar activity’ may be about to begin.

11 year cycles of solar activity are the norm and we are currently approaching the end of the current cycle, Cycle 24, where it would be normal for the sun’s activity to be increasing towards it’s maximum.  However, the lack of solar activity, sunspots and other indicators, point to wards the likelihood that the next cycle, Cycle 25, may not happen at all.

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So, having pitched our champion against LPG and Logs I’m going to tackle the Big Daddy, Godzilla, the dinosaur fuel that is Coal.

Without the relatively inexpensive luxury of a mains gas supply, households all over the country have a choice to make “What fuel do I heat my home with?”.  As in previous articles, I’m going to enter the fray and compare the heat output of our two chosen fuels, in kilowatt hours (Kwh) and the cost of each Kwh, hopefully giving a clear winner (and bags of helpful info).

So, seconds out…………ding, ding.

In previous articles we have established a cost per Kwh for heating oil at 5.59 pence per Kwh, this was based on 10 Kwh per litre and a litre price of 55.85p.

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Okay, following the response to my last post on LPG Vs Heating Oil, I thought I’d expand on this.

If you are off the gas grid there are a number of fuels that you might consider to heat your home with.  The growth in sales of solid fuel stoves, especially log burners has prompted me to take a look at that as an alternative heat source.  So, utilising the same criteria as previously; measuring energy output in Kilowatt Hours (Kwh) and using an average price, I’m going to pitch Logs against Heating Oil.

Let’s get ready to rumble………..

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We are immensely proud to introduce the judges for our photographic competition.  Along with representatives of TateOil, we are overjoyed to have secured the services and expert eyes of two of the country’s top creative, professionals.

International award winning photographer Lorentz Gullachsen has kindly agreed to join our team.  His awards include Gold, Silver and Merits from the Association of Photographers, which are the equivalent of the Oscars for the photographic industry, together with awards from London Photographic Association, D&AD and the Royal Photographic Society.  His collections have been shown at the National Portrait Gallery and his work shown internationally.  I could carry on with a list of credits and achievements, but I think the best thing to say is take a look at his work and see for your self just how lucky we are!  Visit Lorentz’s site at www.gullachsen.com.

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