As the temperature drops, some of us will start putting the heating on but for the one-and-a-half million people across the UK that are not on the mains gas network - and who are relying instead on heating oil - that decision may give them pause. The vast majority of those people live in rural locations. The heating oil market is unregulated, unlike gas and electricity, so any changes in the global price quickly gets passed on to customers.
Tensions in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine are two issues currently both affecting supply which is causing prices to rise. Author shares how books have 'magical way' of reaching you when struggling Accessible playground to 'allow all children to play' 'What terminal cancer has taught me about life' Until March this year, the price was quite stable at about 60p per litre (ppl) but when the war in Iran started in March, it jumped to a high of 134ppl. After a dip in the past few months, it is rising once again and it currently stands at 111ppl, according to price comparison site Boiler Juice.
The BBC has spoken to a number of business and homeowners across the West about how that rise is affecting them. Peter Mason lives in Minety, in north Wiltshire, where most homes rely on heating oil. "I'm getting toward the end of the tank and need to top up for winter... it will be over £550," he said.
Mason said that last year "it was about £300 to fill up - it is horrendous". He said: "The price goes up and down. It can vary plus or minus £50 but it has never been as high as it is today.
"It means I'll have to eek out what I spent my money on. I'm retired, its not like I can change jobs. "I have to be really careful and pull money out of savings." Dylan Williams owns van-driving business Van & I of Monmouth, Wales and regularly operates in the Forest of Dean, Stroud and South Gloucestershire.
The 51-year-old said he was currently paying more for fuel than he ever had in the three years of running his business. He said he had had to put the prices of his services up to offset the rise. At the start of the year he would pay between £120 and £130 for a full tank, he said, but that had now gone up to £160.
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