In Massachusetts, the cost of keeping a home warm has climbed sharply in the days since strikes on Iran began, a reminder of how distant conflict can reach a kitchen thermostat through the long chain of oil markets. A North Shore homeowner who paid $3.99 a gallon on Monday found the posted price at $5.49 days later, and across the state averages have risen by a third or more. Dealers say they are passing along costs they did not choose, and they are watching the global crude market as closely as their customers. Yet the season is turning toward spring, and the same volatility that drove prices
Home Heating Oil Prices Jump One-Third in Massachusetts as Iran Strikes Roil Crude Markets
Households heating their homes face sharply higher costs, with one customer reporting a delivery that would have cost $250 more had it been taken days later.
A 38 percent increase in five days
Mark
Start with the basic number. How big is this jump?
Mimi
Heating oil averaged a little over $4 a gallon this winter. Since the bombing of Iran began last Saturday, the Massachusetts average is up a third or more, and some customers are near $5.50.
Mark
And the connection to crude is direct?
Mimi
Crude is refined into heating oil, gasoline and other fuels. US crude futures rose more than 10 percent on Friday alone.
Luke
Worth noting that "a third or more" is the reporting's characterization of the average, not a published figure with a method behind it. The only precise numbers are individual ones.
Mimi
Right. Tom Driscoll paid $3.99 Monday and saw $5.49 listed later, a 38 percent rise in five days. That's one customer and one dealer.
Mark
What do dealers say about their own role?
Mimi
Michael Ferrante of the dealers' association says they make no profit from the spike and just pass costs along. Needham Oil said its wholesale price rose $1.50 a gallon in a few days.
Luke
Those are the dealers' own accounts. Ferrante represents them, and Needham declined to talk on the record beyond its customer note. Nothing here independently verifies margins.
Mark
Where does this go from here?
Mimi
Nobody knows. Ferrante says prices could keep rising, but Needham notes they've fallen as fast as they've spiked before.
Luke
Right, and the relief Ferrante expects is about the season ending and lower demand, not a forecast about Iran or crude. That part is unknown.
Der Puls
- Heating oil across Massachusetts jumped by a third or more within days of the Iran strikes, with some customers now paying near $5.50 a gallon.
- One homeowner watched a 168-gallon delivery price climb from $3.99 to $5.49 a gallon in five days, a gap that would have cost him $250 more had he waited.
- A dealer reported wholesale supply costs leaping $1.50 a gallon in just a few days, and dealers say they are absorbing nothing and passing everything along.
- US crude futures surged more than 10 percent on Friday, and the trade is bracing for further moves tied to events in Iran.
- Dealers are urging patience, noting the heating season is ending and that prices have collapsed quickly after past spikes, but no one can say when relief will come.
In Massachusetts, the cost of keeping a home warm has climbed sharply in the days since strikes on Iran began, a reminder of how distant conflict can reach a kitchen thermostat through the long chain of oil markets. A North Shore homeowner who paid $3.99 a gallon on Monday found the posted price at $5.49 days later, and across the state averages have risen by a third or more. Dealers say they are passing along costs they did not choose, and they are watching the global crude market as closely as their customers. Yet the season is turning toward spring, and the same volatility that drove prices up has, in earlier years, let them fall just as fast.
Tom Driscoll filled his oil tank on Monday at $3.99 a gallon. A few days later, when he checked his North Shore dealer's website, the price had risen to $5.49, a 38 percent jump in five days. Had he waited until Friday, he calculated, the same 168 gallons would have cost him $250 more. He wrote to the Globe to say so.
His experience is part of a wider pattern. Through most of the winter, home heating oil in Massachusetts had averaged a little over $4 a gallon. After the bombing of Iran began last Saturday, average prices across the state rose by a third or more, and some households now pay close to $5.50.
Michael Ferrante, president of the Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association, said the market reacted immediately and that dealers watched with dismay as the average crossed $5 a gallon. Friday's jump in US crude futures, more than 10 percent in a single day, offered little comfort. Because crude becomes heating oil, the swings reach customers quickly, and Ferrante insists dealers are simply passing costs along without profit.
Needham Oil Complete Heating and Cooling described the squeeze in a note to customers. Its wholesale price had jumped "an amazing $1.50 per gallon" in a few days, which it called almost unprecedented. The company acknowledged that the change frustrates customers and puts tremendous pressure on its own business. Its top priority, it said, is making sure homes have the fuel they need to stay safe and warm.
There is still a note of hope. The season is ending, and the company has seen prices fall as fast as they rose. As Driscoll put it, "We are so glad it's March instead of November." Whether prices keep climbing or drop back depends on the crude market and on what happens in Iran.
Tom Driscoll took a heating oil delivery on Monday and paid $3.99 a gallon. When he checked his North Shore dealer's website a few days later, the posted price was $5.49. That is a 38 percent jump in five days, and he wrote to the Globe to say so. Had he waited until Friday, he calculated, the same 168 gallons would have cost him $250 more.
His experience reflects what is happening across Massachusetts. For most of this winter, home heating oil averaged a little over $4 a gallon, about 5 percent higher than the year before. That changed after the bombing of Iran began last Saturday. Since then, average prices in the state have risen by a third or more, and some customers are now paying close to $5.50 per gallon.
Michael Ferrante, president of the Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association, which represents home heating oil dealers, said the market responded at once. "The bombing in Iran impacted oil prices instantaneously," he said. He described dealers watching with horror as the average price reached $5 a gallon and kept climbing, and he warned that prices could continue to rise.
Friday's trading gave that warning some weight. US crude oil futures climbed more than 10 percent that day. Crude is refined into heating oil, gasoline and other fuels, so movements in the crude market feed through to what households pay at the tank.
Ferrante said dealers are not profiting from the surge. In his account, they pass their higher costs along to customers. "The dealers are not happy about it," he said.
A note that Needham Oil Complete Heating and Cooling sent to its customers describes the pressure on the supply side. In the few days after the war started, the note said, the price the company pays for wholesale supplies jumped "an amazing $1.50 per gallon." The company called the increase "almost unprecedented." Needham Oil declined to speak on the record beyond the note. It acknowledged how frustrating the change is for customers and said it is just as frustrating for the company, creating tremendous pressure on its business.
The note also offered a caution about what comes next. "We have no way of knowing what will happen tomorrow," it said, adding that in the past the company has seen prices plummet as quickly as they spiked. Its stated top priority is making sure customers have enough supply to keep their homes safe and warm.
Timing may soften the blow. Ferrante pointed to the one positive he sees: the heating season is nearing its end, which should provide some price relief. Driscoll put it more simply in his note to the Globe: "We are so glad it's March instead of November." Whether prices keep rising or fall back as fast as they climbed now depends on the crude market and on events in Iran.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The bombing in Iran impacted oil prices instantaneously.— Michael Ferrante, president, Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association
We are so glad it's March instead of November.— Tom Driscoll, North Shore heating oil customer
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