David Blevings, spokesperson for NIOF said, “We have seen unprecedented demand for home heating oil during August as prices moved lower in the early part of the month and consumers sought to replenish stocks ahead of winter. However, this demand has outstripped supply and distributors are reporting low levels of stock currently.
Distributors must forecast expected demand months in advance and this unprecedented uplift in August has left us short of product. All oil products are brought into NI from GB, usually from Milford Haven but this year we are seeing products arriving from all over the world due to the ban on imports of Russian products.
We are assured this is a short-term issue and product is arriving on a weekly basis. We would advise oil users to continue to order as normal but note your distributor may limit your order to make oil available to as many consumers as possible.
The oil industry has asked the Department of Economy since 2016 to look at an emergency storage facility in NI to prevent this sort of issue arising but to date this has never been brought to the table for discussion”, added David.
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