As the winter months quicky approach, energy experts are warning those who use oil as the primary source to heat their homes prices may not be done rising. Canadians for Affordable Energy president Dan McTeague says last week diesel prices hit record highs, and it sets the stage for prices to continue climbing as the winter months approach. “It doesn’t look like diesel is stabilizing right now, it could go up another $0.10 a litre,” McTeague says. “Pushing towards the $2.60 range which means $2.10 for heating oil. It also means that we traditionally see between September and December, January an increase on average over the past two years of about $0.30 a litre. So, we could be looking at prices approaching the $3 per litre mark for diesel and $2.50 for furnace oil.” Reasons behind the higher prices include the conflict in Gaza, the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, and the ongoing war between Russia and the Ukraine. McTeague says Ukraine has been successful in taking out some Russian refineries, which is only driving the diesel prices higher. While many New Brunswickers have moved away from home heating oil in recent years, with prices in the province currently sitting at a maximum price of 247.7 cents per litre for heating oil, he says the heating option is still very popular in Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States. With no end to either conflict overseas in sight, McTeague urges on multiple levels of government to step up to help with the rising costs to ensure no one goes dark in the winter. “Some provinces do not offer HST on furnace oil, other provinces do,” McTeague points out. “The second would be for the federal government to remove, at least on diesel, the Clean Fuel Standard, the second carbon tax. It’s 11 to 12 cents a litre.” McTeague says for prices to ultimately come down in Canada, Ottawa needs to make a serious effort to get oil, gas, and other petroleum products harvest here to other markets. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
