Households that heat with oil could pay about 50% more this winter, an average increase of $878 that would push the season’s bill past $2,600, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. The Energy Information Administration’s winter outlook projects a smaller 21% rise in heating oil spending, along with a 4% increase for electricity and declines of 9% for natural gas and 3% for propane. The pressure traces back to global oil markets strained by the wars in Iran and Ukraine and by falling refinery activity. Only about 3% of U.S. households heat primarily with oil, but roughly 82% of heating oil use is concentrated in the Northeast, where many homes lack natural gas lines. For those families, two wars overseas are about to show up on the heating bill.
Sources: Axios.