Around £3 has been shaved off the average price for home heating oil in the last week, a report has said.
Figures from the NI Consumer Council said a 300-litre fill was now £188.06 on average, a drop of about £2.25 on the week before.
Householders can expect to pay £291.15 for 500 litres, a drop of £3 on last week, while the biggest fill of 900 litres is down by just over £4 to £508.54.
The consumer watchdog monitors prices across 11 council areas in Northern Ireland.
Derry City and Strabane remains the cheapest location in which to buy 300 litres, costing just £184.99. That’s nearly £6 cheaper than the most expensive council area of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, where 300 litres will set you back £190.84.
And for 500 litres, the cheapest council area is again Derry City and Strabane, where it costs £285.76. And the most expensive region for 500 litres is Newry City, Mourne and Down, where it will set you back £294.43.
For 900 litres, the best-value fill is again to be found in Derry City and Strabane, where it costs £506.03. And the most expensive location is again the Newry area, where 900 litres costs £512.37.
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Speaking last month, Consumer Council head of energy policy Raymond Gormley said its home heating oil price checker was a useful tool.
He said using the data meant “you have a good indication of what prices oil is, and you can phone around a few different suppliers and kind of barter between them, and get the best deal you can”.
Home heating oil prices have fluctuated dramatically in recent years, due to geopolitical factors and the cost of living crisis. In the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, the average price of 900 litres of home heating oil more than doubled in the space of a fortnight, going from £550 to £1,181.
Mr Gormley told the Belfast Telegraph last month that recent stability in oil prices is due to a slowing Chinese economy.
“Lots of countries are producing oil, and demand isn’t quite as strong. But if you had a really cold snap for winter, you could see demand shoot up, and then prices go up. That’s what typically happens.”
Energy price comparison site Power to Switch said suppliers’ prices were coming down following their peak in the cost-of-living crisis. “Over the past year, most energy suppliers have introduced price cuts, offering some relief from the record-high bills of recent years.
“However, energy costs remain significantly higher than pre-crisis levels.”
Founder Aodhan O’Donnell added: “Electricity prices are still 70% to 80% higher than they were just three years ago, and gas prices remain close to double what they were before.”