The Latest News About Heating Oil Prices and How We Can Help

The recent surge in energy costs across the board has many heating oil customers wondering when this will all end. We understand the concern, and at Burt’s Reliable, we want to keep customers in the loop as much as possible, even though the situation remains very fluid.

In May 2022, our fuel suppliers once again raised prices over 65 cents per gallon over a few days. The reasons for this are complex, and they seem to affect heating oil and diesel much more than gasoline.

The driving factor is that heating oil in the North Fork and East End of Long Island is in abnormally short supply. In fact, the rate for heating oil on commodities exchanges is a dollar less than we can get from our suppliers! That never happens. This phenomenon is called “basis blowout” and reflects a disconnect between the markets and supplies.

There’s Good News and Bad News

There’s actually some good news in this situation: the shortage indicates that markets expect heating oil prices to drop over the next several months. Fuel suppliers don’t want to purchase fuel now and be stuck with the higher-priced products when prices decline.

The bad news is that it’s causing prices to be artificially higher right now — and no one knows for sure what will happen in the near term with the war in Ukraine. It’s worth noting that natural gas and electric costs are similarly inflated.

How Burt’s Reliable Can Help

We’re holding off on making deliveries except to households who seem to be running low. It didn’t help that we had an unusually cold spring, causing people to use their heat later in the year than usual.

Beyond that, we want to urge people to get on E-Z Pay, our monthly payment plan. E-Z Pay allows us to spread your fuel payments over 12 months. If prices stay high next year, it will be much easier to manage your bills if you don’t have to pay for all your deliveries in just five months of fall and winter. With this budget program, your heating season expenses are cut virtually in half!

E-Z Pay has always made sense. With prices so high now, it is essential!

And don’t worry — if the actual cost of the heating oil you receive is more or less than what we estimate, we’ll adjust your billing accordingly. In the end, you only pay for the fuel you receive at the price on the dates it was delivered — not a penny more.

If you have any questions or wish to enroll in E-Z Pay, please contact us. We want to help.