The price of heating oil in Yorkshire's rural areas has plummeted by half since lockdown began

A fuel supplier in Yorkshire has seen customers in some of the most isolated areas of the Dales stocking up on kerosene to heat their homes since the global price of crude oil plummeted during the lockdown, mainly due to the lack of demand from airlines.

Harrogate-based Northern Energy delivers heating oil to 15,000 buyers in rural villages that don't have access to mains services by tanker, where it is then stored in tanks attached to farms and domestic properties.

The huge price drop means that the average fuel price in England has plunged from 47p per litre on March 25 to just 19p on April 28.

Many customers' bills have fallen by over 50 per cent and they are now able to fill their tanks in preparation for next autumn.

Northern Energy managing director Stuart Illingworth explained that the coronavirus shutdown has created a 'perfect storm' for residential users of kerosene.

“It’s very normal for the price of crude oil, or kerosene, to fluctuate, which in turn means the price of heating oil for residential homes changes too. During the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve seen the price of crude reduce substantially from 60 dollars per barrel to 20 dollars. When it comes to kerosene, around 80 per cent of UK consumption is used to fuel the aviation industry and only 20 per cent is used for other purposes such as residential heating. As airlines are primarily non-operational at the moment, it’s that context, coupled with the usual price fluctuation, which means it’s a perfect storm for low prices for our residential customers."

Ironically, many rural residents actually stockpiled kerosene at the beginning of the lockdown before prices plunged.

“We saw some panic buying at the beginning of the pandemic, sadly before prices crashed; however, now we see consumers taking advantage of the cheap fuel. For example, a customer with a 2,500 litre tank who previously would tend to purchase 1,000 litres of oil at a time in order to manage costs is now filling up.

"It’s definitely the perfect time to be stocking up as we envisage costs to be suppressed at least until the autumn, when the weather starts to get colder and it’s predicted that travel might start to pick up. That said, the oil price is impossible to predict. This is the cheapest I’ve ever seen prices and the cheapest we are ever likely to see them, so customers should take advantage of that and purchase as much as they can afford and have capacity to store.”

The rush has also been beneficial for some of Northern's staff, as their seasonal contracts would normally end once the weather warms up, but this year they have been extended.

"Northern Energy remains open for business throughout the pandemic and our drivers are respecting all social distancing measures, as are our valued customers. It’s been very humbling to hear some of the positive feedback we’ve had from customers during this testing time who can feel very isolated from the rest of the world and have had challenges keeping their homes stocked with other essential products. We’re proud to put customer service first and will continue to do so, no matter what challenges we face,” added Mr Illingworth.