How Much for a Barrel?

Caston village does not have a mains gas supply but relies on heating oil instead.  Not everyone will use oil alone as wood burners are still very popular to supplement heating particularly in the main living room but oil still takes a large part of the fuel budget.  There are a number of suppliers but they always seem to be quick to put their prices up when oil rises and slow to bring it down when the price falls - or is that just the way it seems?

Well, now you can check it right here with this Oil Dashboard.  Just run your mouse over the 1m, 1q, 1y, 5y icons and see a graph showing you how the price has varied over time.  Has your supplier matched the price changes?

Perhaps this will help you make the decision as to when to buy.  Get it right and you can save quite a bit of money.  By the way, oil is officially said to have been the cheapest method of heating, outstripping both gas and electricity over the past eight years - what do you think, true or false?

Upon taking a delivery of oil just recently I asked the tanker driver of a well known oil supplier just how closely, in his view, the price followed the barrel price - he told me "They get what they can - I've delivered oil to neighbouring properties" he said, "on the same day and with a difference of as much as 20p per litre just because one phoned round and negotiated and the other one never bothered!"

Looking for the Best Price?

Have you tried either of these firms?  Both  www.fuelseeker.co.uk and www.boilerjuice.com will give you an instant on-line quote which you can either accept or use as a negotiating tool with your usual supplier.  Oil is expensive and this could just make the price difference you are looking for.

Here is another possibility kindly sent in by John Smith.  John says:

"Having looked on line for oil prices I came across the website www.oil-club.co.uk and saw there were oil clubs all over the uk, over 30 in Norfolk.  Griston is now registered as a new club on the site so anyone who browses this site can join the Oil Club, and the more people who sign up, the more flexible deliveries will be through the year. Although it is listed as Griston village club all surrounding villages can sign up to it (within 10 mile radius) to take advantage of bulk deliveries. Please look at the site and all will become clear how simple it is."

We'd be very interested to know how you get on - use the feedback page to let us know.