Common Causes of Heating Oil Price Fluctuations
Top 5 Reasons Your Heating Oil Prices Are All Over the Place
Heating oil prices can sometimes fluctuate, especially in the winter and colder months when demand increases. However, there are many other factors that can influence home heating oil costs as well throughout Staten Island, Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, and New Jersey—including Newark, Bayonne, Jersey City, Rahway, Woodbridge and Linden.
Read on to learn more about the lesser-known reasons why your heating oil costs may ebb and flow throughout the year, and how Rucci Oil can help you manage the unexpected.
Simple supply and demand fluctuations
When oil demands increase sharply, due to longer stretches of cold snaps back-to-back, refineries may have trouble keeping up with demand, since their available supplies may be depleted faster than they can be replenished. This can raise costs, due to reduced supply during higher demand times.
Price changes in related industries
Further increasing heating oil prices can be contributing factors such as transportation costs, and gasoline needed to transport heating oil in trucks. When these costs rise, so do heating oil prices.
[h3] Upheaval at home or around the globe
Fluctuations in weather and the economy can influence heating oil pricing in indirect ways. Likewise, political upheaval in foreign countries can also cause delays in accessing oil, since it may need to be shipped from other regions in the world, and this process can be slower when things aren’t going smoothly.
Panic buying
When these supply delays occur, it can actually increase demand, as some buyers may panic and feel the need to stock up in fear of further delays or a possible shortage. As these buyers snatch up more oil than typical, the supply is further diminished, just when demand is increasing. As you can imagine, this can cause dramatic price fluctuations. Prices will stabilize when additional supply arrives and buyers’ anxiety is reduced.
Location, location, location
Your geographic region can also impact heating oil prices. When demand is high, and weather conditions are severe, it can be more difficult, and more expensive, to get heating oil transported to suppliers. If your region is more rural and remote, there may be fewer heating oil suppliers nearby, further increasing demand in your area.
Unwavering support from Rucci
Fortunately, whatever your heating oil needs in New York or New Jersey may be, Rucci Oil will help to keep your family warm and comfortable this season. Our Price Protection program can shield you against winter price spikes, and our EZ Pay plan can help you with predictable payments over monthly installments. Also, we deliver clean-burning Bioheat® fuel, providing a 20¢-per-gallon credit on your New York state income taxes. Reach out to us to learn more about how we can help.