The government has been urged to take quick action to help the 1.7 million homes that still use heating oil and have seen prices double due to the US attacks on Iran.
These are often people in rural areas, who have seen prices for their fuel jump in some cases from 62p a litre before the war to perhaps £1.73 now.
Suppliers have been accused of delivering supplies without a price being quoted, leaving consumers in for a nasty shock when the bill arrives.
Conservative net zero minister Clare Coutinho wants the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to probe the suppliers and order them to be fairer to consumers.
Speaking on the BBC Today programme this morning, Ms Coutinho said: “Heating oil is being delivered without a price being quoted. We have called on the CMA to investigate these practices. We want more transparency and fair practices for consumers.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she has asked the CMA to be “vigilant”, but Ms Coutinho accused the government of being “slow off the mark”.
“I hope this is something we can work on together. It is people who are vulnerable and in rural communities who have no other choice,” she added.
All energy costs are rising as fears grow of a supply squeeze. But heating oil seems to be the energy supply that is being most badly hit. There are about 120 heating oil suppliers, much smaller firms than the large energy conglomerates that supply electricity and gas to most of the population.
Emma Simpson, chief executive of Rural Action Derbyshire, a charity that runs an oil-buying scheme, said: “People who rely on heating oil are facing a sudden and frightening surge in cost. We may be heading into spring, but anyone running low on oil right now doesn’t have the luxury of waiting for prices to fall.”
She added: “For some, the decision to order or not will come down to whether they can realistically afford it, and that is a really hard position to be in.”
Emma Cochrane, acting executive director for consumer protection at the CMA, said: “We know the situation in the Middle East is putting pressure on heating oil prices, and we recognise that this will worry people who may find it hard to afford these extra costs.
“Generally, we would expect that customers who have placed orders for heating oil should receive it at the agreed price. Suppliers should be clear what they are charging and terms must be fair. We won’t hesitate to take action if we suspect that consumer or competition law is being broken.”
On Monday, energy secretary Ed Miliband warned the chief executive of the UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA) the increase in heating oil prices had been “significant” and “caused concern among households and businesses”.
Only 3 per cent of households in England and Wales use oil was their only source of central heating. In Scotland, it is 5 per cemt. But almost two-thirds of homes in Northern Ireland use oil for heating.
It came as a report released from the Labour Rural Research Group into rural poverty said hardship is rife.
Chair Jenny Riddell-Carpenter MP said rural poverty “is one of the most persistent and misunderstood forms of inequality in the UK today”.
“For too many policymakers, and for too many departments in Whitehall, rurality is a persistent blind spot – rendering rural poverty invisible. Yet for millions of people across our countryside and coastal communities, hardship is not the exception, it is a daily reality,” she said.
There were wild swings in both the oil and equity markets on Monday. But on Tuesday, oil prices fell sharply and stock markets bounced back as US president Donald Trump said the US-Israel war with Iran could be over soon.
The price of Brent crude was more than 8 per cent lower at just under $91 dollars a barrel, retreating from near-four year highs above $100 a barrel in volatile trading on Monday.
Markets responded by recovering some of the recent ground lost in the sell-off, with the FTSE 100 Index up 1.6% soon after opening, up 165.3 at 10,414.8.
Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter, said: “Markets are attempting to stabilise after an extraordinary round trip in oil prices.”
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Global equity markets are still taking their cues from oil this morning – but the tone has notably improved after yesterday’s wild swings.”