Heating-oil prices are down almost 50 percent from last year’s high — and are at their lowest point in four years when inflation is factored in, the Independent Connecticut Petroleum Association reported last week.
The trade group, which represents more than 550 Connecticut-based oil dealers, also sees a favorable market for customers at least in the short term, according to the report from association President and CEO Gene Guilford.
Oil prices in 2008 topped out at $4.65, while the current average in Connecticut is $2.45.
“Moving into the new heating season, the ICPA sees little reason to believe that energy prices will change significantly over the near term, given the nation’s economic conditions, rising gas and oil supplies, and reduced overall global demand,” Guilford said.
But he also said that homeowners need to use common sense when choosing this year’s heating plan.
“While nobody can anticipate where prices will go from here, many consumers, especially those who locked in at higher prices last summer, are proceeding with caution this time around,” Guilford said.
The association attributes last season’s experience with heating contracts to “self-proclaimed energy experts” like hedge funds and investment banks, he said. Many of those advisers predicted that oil prices would go up to more than $200 per barrel by the end of 2009 and drove consumers to lock-in their home heating oil contracts at artificially high prices, according to Guilford.
“The experts were wrong as markets declined by 66 percent and prices fell,” he said.
Whether a homeowner decides to lock in a price for the full season to guard against price spikes, or buys “at will” without a contract, Guilford said, customers should buy fuel from a reputable dealer “who has a history of fulfilling their commitments to their customers.”
The association has a list of dealers who ascribe to the group’s code of ethics available online at www.icpa.org/find.htm.
Consumers also can check with the state Consumer Protection Department to see if their supplier is registered at www.ct.gov/dcp or by calling 860-713-6160.
