Heating oil prices spike as global supply chokes

Western Pa. residents, fuel suppliers are bracing for a difficult winter amid the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

For 73-year-old Sam Avampato, keeping his home warm this winter likely will cost far more than it ever has before.

As cooler fall weather approaches, the Hunker resident is staring at a staggering $5.99 per gallon for heating oil — highlighting skyrocketing home heating costs threatening budgets across Western Pennsylvania.

“The most I’ve ever paid was $4.12 a gallon,” said Avampato, who has heated his home with oil since 1977. “I use about 275 gallons a year. Normally, the price is somewhere between $2 and $2.50 per gallon.”

When Avampato began shopping around recently, it was difficult to find a price below $5.99.

“I’ve got an expectation that prices will eventually go down, but not in the next couple of weeks,” Avampato said. “My plan is to buy the minimal amount, and if I’m wrong (about the price), I’m wrong.”

Avampato is far from alone. While homes heated by electricity, natural gas or propane are expected to see their costs increase between 5.8% and 9%, those using heating oil could see a price hike north of 30%, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.

From a chemical standpoint, home heating oil is very similar to diesel fuel, which also has seen sharp price spikes.

A stark contrast

This time last year, Export Fuel Co. officials were actually lowering the price for a gallon of home heating oil.

“Most people want to know what a 150- to 299-gallon delivery is going to cost,” said Export Fuel Co. General Manager Kristen Zawoyski. “Last year, that price point was $3.049 per gallon — today, it’s $5.99, almost double.”

Zawoyski said the trickle- down effect of a chokedoff global oil supply began affecting customers months ago.

“In February, when this whole conflict with Iran started, heating season was tailing off,” she said. “People were living with what they had in their tanks and afraid to order because of the price spikes that were happening. We were riding it out with consumers and hoping those prices would level off, but here we are ramping back up as heating season gets here.”

The war with Iran and the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to drive up oil prices, creating a global pinch. Roughly one-third of the world’s global oil supply passes through the 21-mile-wide waterway bordered by Iran and Oman — the only maritime outlet from the oil-rich Persian Gulf — making the strait’s ongoing blockage a massive choke point for international markets.

Both Zawoyski and Dell Cromie, owner of Glassmere Fuel Service in West Deer, said many customers who normally would be placing orders are seeking advice instead.

“People are calling constantly just to check prices,” Cromie said. “They’re waiting for it to get meaningfully cheaper, and I just don’t see that happening.”

Zawoyski said many of the calls she fields resemble a panicked consultation more than a potential sale.

“People are asking what they should do,” she said. “Every time they turn on the national news and see these things about the Strait of Hormuz and gas prices, people start to panic. Our phones have been ringing off the hook with people asking questions.”

Price pinch

Both Cromie and Zawoyski said a common misconception is spiking fuel prices translate to more profit for their companies.

“People buy more when the price is lower, so we’re selling far less, and we have to stop at triple or quadruple the number of houses to deliver the same amount of fuel,” Zawoyski said. “The other thing is, prices for so many things go up automatically when the price of fuel goes up. We try to be kind to customers, but we don’t have a crystal ball and we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“I’ve had people say to me, ‘I bet you love this,’” Cromie said. “But I hate it. We’re making less money, and the ancillary things that happen alongside it are not good.”

The typical home heating customer, according to Cromie and Zawoyski, is an older resident who is likely living in a rural area on a fixed income.

“If we have a winter like last year, wow, what a disaster it’s going to be,” Cromie said. “It’s not a good time for us and not a good time for our customers.”

Looking for relief

Some of those customers may be eligible for federal financial help through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP.

“This is a warning that too many families are entering winter with no room left in their budgets,” said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. “They have already experienced record-high summer cooling costs, and now they are facing home heating costs that are rising more than twice the rate of inflation.”

Wolfe’s group is urging Congress to bump funding for LIHEAP from $4 billion to $7 billion.

In 2024, utilities disconnected electric service approximately 13.4 million times and natural gas service approximately 1.7 million times for nonpayment. More than 275 electric and natural gas utilities have increased rates, received approval for increases or proposed increases since 2025, with potential added costs to customers exceeding $101 billion through 2028.

“Congress cannot wait for the first cold snap,” Wolfe said. “LIHEAP funding should be increased now. Energy is not a luxury. We can modernize the grid and meet growing demand without pushing families into crisis, but affordability has to be a key element of those decisions.”

The annual LIHEAP application period opens Nov. 2. For more information, visit PA.gov/agencies/dhs/resources/ liheap.

An end in sight?

With little in the way of positive progress coming from the White House and the Iranian government regarding the Strait of Hormuz’s closure, suppliers and customers are wondering whether there is an end in sight.

“I keep waiting for this wonderful president we’ve got now to do something,” Avampato said with a laugh.

Cromie said putting the U.S. and the rest of the world in an oil price pinch is something he thinks the Iranian government has been waiting to do.

“I feel like they’ve been planning this for a long time,” he said. “And I hate to say it, but they’ve done a very good job countering everything we’ve done. They’ve got the upper hand right now, and I don’t see that changing.”

Expected price hikes

The National Energy Assistance Directors Association is projecting the following price hikes across various types of home heating:

• Natural gas: 5.8%

• Propane: 8.7%

• Electricity: 9%

• Heating oil: 31.3%