A plain breakdown of what actually sits inside your fill price: wholesale kerosene, carbon tax, delivery distance and seasonal demand.
By MyOil Editor ·
When you ask "why is heating oil so expensive", you're really asking what's stacked inside the number on your invoice. Most of the price of a fill in Ireland comes down to four things: the wholesale cost of kerosene, tax (including carbon tax), the cost of getting a tanker to your door, and how much everyone else is buying at the same time.
None of these is a scam. But understanding the stack helps you see where you can actually save, and where you can't.
The raw cost of kerosene is the single largest part of your bill. It tracks international oil markets and the euro-dollar exchange rate, because oil is traded in dollars. When crude rises, or the euro weakens, the wholesale cost of a kerosene load rises too, and that flows straight through to your fill.
This is the part no supplier controls. They buy at the going rate, add their margin, and pass it on. It's also why prices can move week to week for reasons that have nothing to do with Ireland.
Heating oil carries VAT plus carbon tax. Carbon tax on solid and liquid fuels has been rising on a set schedule for several years, and each increase adds a little more to every litre. It's a deliberate, published policy, so it's not a surprise cost, but it does mean the floor under prices has been creeping up over time regardless of what the oil market does.
Here's the local part. A tanker has to physically drive kerosene from a depot to your tank. If you live far from a depot, down long rural lanes, or somewhere a part-load delivery is common, the cost per litre tends to be higher. Suppliers with a depot near you, or a route that already passes your area, can often deliver more cheaply than one coming from further afield.
This is exactly why two houses in different counties, filling on the same day, can pay very different amounts. And it's why comparing local suppliers matters more than chasing a national headline price.
Everyone wants oil at the same time. Demand spikes with the first proper cold snap, and again around Christmas and any hard frost. When lots of homes order at once, delivery slots tighten and prices firm up. In milder shoulder seasons, demand eases off.
We won't tell you to "buy on a dip" or try to time the market, because nobody can reliably forecast oil prices and guessing is a good way to run dry. What you can do is avoid ordering in a panic, when you're forced to take whatever's available at whatever it costs.
If your fill costs more than last year, it's usually a mix of a higher wholesale cost, another step up in carbon tax, and possibly a cold spell squeezing supply. If it's more than your neighbour a county over, delivery distance and local competition are the likely culprits.
You can't change the oil market or the tax rate. You can control these:
Heating oil feels expensive because most of the price is genuinely out of your hands: global markets, tax policy, your distance from a depot, and the weather. What's in your hands is how you buy. Comparing suppliers, avoiding emergency fills, and keeping an eye on your tank are the moves that actually protect your wallet.
Start by checking what a fill costs near you today, then set an alert so you're never buying blind.
Set a price-drop alert and we'll email you when oil gets cheaper in your county.
Set a price-drop alert →Pop in your tank and last fill, and we'll estimate how many days you've got left.
See when you'll run out →From crude oil and the euro to the carbon tax, here's what actually moves the price you pay.
Read →Nobody can honestly forecast Irish kerosene prices. Here's what actually moves them, how to read the trend, and how to let an alert watch for you.
Read →Out or nearly out of oil? Here's how to arrange an urgent same-day fill in Ireland, and how to stop the panic happening again.
Read →Tell us your county and we'll watch the price by the fill, not the cent. Add your tank and we'll tell you when you'll run out, and nudge you in good time to order.