LONDONDERRY, NH – Home heating oil firms are facing mounting cost pressures as rising crude and diesel prices tied to Middle East tensions squeeze margins and disrupt operations across New England.
The recent spike follows a cold winter that boosted demand for heating oil, leaving both consumers and suppliers exposed to higher costs. Businesses say they are trying to avoid passing those increases on to customers, even as expenses climb sharply.
“We had to lower our prices to be able to get the phones to start ringing more. People are holding off on auto deliveries because the prices are so high, and we can’t blame them on that,” said Andrew Chesney, owner of Southern New Hampshire Energy.
Heating oil providers say volatility in energy markets is complicating planning, as rising crude prices coincide with surging diesel costs needed to fuel delivery fleets.
Chesney said a month ago it cost around $8,000 to fill up one of their delivery trucks with diesel, and today it’s between $12,000 and $15,000. Between filling up four trucks and getting all the necessary oil and fuel, it costs Southern New Hampshire Energy around $50,000 a day.
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“We’re trying to cut corners where we can to save the people money, but it’s hard to also on our end. We’re not making a huge profit at all,” said Chesney.
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Some companies are implementing new policies to manage rising costs. In Massachusetts, Atlantic Oil Company posted a disclaimer on their website saying: “Due to recent and ongoing events in the Middle East, we have currently suspended any deliveries below 125 gallons. We have also added a surcharge of $40 for any orders that take less than the 125 gallon minimum.”
“I have people come in, long-time customers saying, ‘you know, I can’t really pay for this,’ and we try to help them. We say, ‘you know, we could, take some payment now,’ because in the summer you won’t need to pay for your oil, typically,” said Ted Triandafilou, General Manager of Atlantic Oil Company.
Triandafilou said his company is experiencing a similar jump in diesel costs.
“Depending on the size of the truck, we have multiple trucks of different sizes. So it could be over. As of now, it’s over $12,000 to fill the truck up as it may have been, you know, $5,000-$6,000 about a month ago.”
Both operators said daily price swings are adding to uncertainty.
“We really don’t know where it’s going to go from here and prices are increasing and decreasing anywhere from 10 cents to 25 cents a day right now with everything going on in the world,” said Chesney.
“Prices change daily just like gas prices typically do, and a lot of time, I’ve seen … the prices go up in the morning – let’s say, jump 20, 30 cents, crazy numbers – and then slowly during the day, they’ll drop back down, but by the close of the market, they’re back up again,” said Triandafilou. “It’s getting to the point where I don’t even bother displaying the price outside because I’d just be running out and changing it again.”
According to AAA, the average cost for a gallon of diesel on March 20 was $5.15, approaching the record average of $5.80 in 2022.
“The last time we saw diesel prices this high was in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine,” said AAA spokesperson Mark Schieldrop. “The current situation is a little bit different because we’re seeing significant impacts on production. We are also seeing all those cargo flows out of the Strait of Hormuz being impacted. So, there are some long-term impacts here.”
Schieldrop said that the record could be broken if the conflict continues. Even if the conflict ended today, the prices wouldn’t drop tomorrow.
“It is true that prices shoot up like a rocket and then tend to drift down like a feather,” said Schieldrop. “It’s going to take a sustained period of time, and many analysts believe that the impact could be lasting for more than a year, even if the conflict ends in the short term.”
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Schieldrop says it can be tough to cut corners on gasoline prices to save money.
“We urge folks to try to drive less. That’s a tough bargain for folks who have to drive, but stacking your trips, trying to drive more economically,” said Schieldrop. “Easing up on the gas pedal, drive a little slower, follow the speed limit, and you can increase your fuel economy pretty dramatically.”
For homeowners, demand may ease in the coming months as warmer weather reduces heating needs. But for businesses, the seasonal slowdown brings its own challenges.
“We’re actually coming into our slower season. So everyone’s going to be holding off on getting home heating oil till winter,” said Chesney.
“So it’s going to start slowing down for our employees, and we’re going to go through a struggle ourselves running a business and keeping things going till the prices lower down.”
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Companies like Southern New Hampshire Energy are relying on other services, including plumbing, heating and cooling, to offset seasonal declines in fuel demand.
“Support local. We’re a family-owned and operated company. We’re not a corporate company, so we structure our business on family. And we’re just a small business trying to make our way through life right now,” said Chesney.
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