Ed Miliband urged to launch investigation into heating oil prices amid 'blatant profiteering'

Oil prices have soared since US-Israeli bombing started last Saturday.

Thanks to Ofgem’s latest price cap, which comes into effect in April, most households will be shielded from additional heating costs until the cap is reviewed in July.

But around 1.5 million homes in Britain are not connected to the gas mains and rely on home heating oil.

They fall outside Ofgem’s protection and stand to see costs soar.

Comparison website BoilerJuice reports the price of heating oil has more than doubled since bombing began last weekend.

Yesterday, Energy Minister Michael Shanks revealed on X he had been in discussions with industry bosses, including fuel distribution association UKIFDA, adding he does not tolerate price gouging.

He said he wanted to ensure distributors have “the latest information on events in the Middle East and understand any pressures they are facing”.

"Heating oil is essential for many in our rural communities,” he wrote.

In her letter, Ms Coutinho refers to accounts of customers having deliveries cancelled and then re-booked for twice the price.

Others reported being forced to buy huge minimum quantities, leaving them facing large bills to keep warm, she says.

Mr Miliband addressed the issue when it was raised in Parliament last week, saying it was “a particular area we need to look at”.

“People who are using heating oil are exposed to what is happening in the market," he said. “We will look at that issue, and I go back to the wider point that I made, that both the Chancellor and the PM have shown determination to act on the cost of living crisis.”

Ms Coutinho’s letter branded alleged price gouging “unacceptable”.

She wrote: “Since the start of the conflict in Iran and the wider region, the price of heating oil has more than doubled.

“Around 1.5 million homes in the UK are heated using oil rather than mains gas. These households are disproportionately rural, often elderly and vulnerable, and almost always without any realistic alternative.”

She added: “Families are reporting shameful behaviour from rogue heating oil suppliers which can only be described as blatant profiteering.

“Some have had previously-booked deliveries cancelled by their supplier, only to be called back and offered to deliver the same oil, to the same address, on the same day, at twice the price.

“Many are being forced to order large minimum quantities of 500 litres, meaning they are suddenly facing extra bills of several hundred pounds just to keep their homes warm... This is unacceptable.”

Ms Coutinho points out that the heating oil market is largely unregulated. And suppliers have no obligation to publish their prices.

She referenced the Pumpwatch scheme, now known as Fuel Finder, that requires petrol stations to publish live fuel prices.

Ms Coutinho said the same transparency should apply for the heating oil market.

“The case is, if anything, stronger,” she wrote. “Heating oil customers are more vulnerable, disproportionately older and have no choice but to order in bulk.”

Ms Coutinho asked what action Mr Miliband had taken to protect heating oil from price gouging.

She also asked if he would write to the Chief Executive of the Competition and Markets Authority, asking them to launch “an urgent investigation into, and action against, price gouging heating oil suppliers”.

Ms Coutinho further requested he bring forward a mandatory price transparency scheme for heating oil suppliers.

She concluded: “In some parts of the country, more than half of all households depend on heating oil. They deserve better than to be left at the mercy of rogue suppliers.”

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter