‘A wrong and broken system’: Readers fear soaring bills as Iran war threatens to deepen cost of living crisis

Fears of a £500 surge in annual energy bills have struck a nerve with Independent readers, many of whom say households are once again bracing for a global crisis they did not create.

From rural communities facing eye-watering jumps in heating oil costs to motorists watching petrol prices climb, commenters described a sense of immediate financial vulnerability.

Several in remote areas said they feel particularly exposed, reliant on oil deliveries or cars, with little public transport and lower wages compounding the strain.

Some blamed energy companies and the wholesale market, arguing that marginal pricing and limited gas storage leave the UK dangerously exposed to global shocks. Others accuse politicians – both domestic and international – of using conflict as cover for policy failures, while ordinary people “pay the price”.

There was also concern about panic buying and profiteering, with reports of sharp increases in domestic oil prices fuelling suspicion that suppliers are capitalising on fear.

Here’s what you had to say:

A cold spring in rural communities

Domestic heating oil is up to 95p per litre today from 60 pence per litre before the weekend. That’s an increase of £350 on a standard oil delivery of 1,000 litres.

Many people in rural communities are going to have a very cold spring unless things improve quickly.

How does that work then?

Price hikes

The price we paid for domestic oil twelve days ago was £325.80 for 600 litres. The village WhatsApp group went mad on Monday as overnight it increased to £535.38 for 600 litres – a rise from Friday’s close of 39 per cent!

Today it’s £549.61, almost another 3 per cent. The domestic oil would have already been refined and in storage tanks, and they know, as in the past, people will suddenly want to top up their own oil tanks, so they hike the prices up overnight to profiteer.

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Munch58

I don’t use gas, but the price affects my energy costs

In theory I couldn’t care less if fossil fuel prices go sky high, as our house runs very efficiently on electricity. So far, the theory! In practice it is a different story, as electricity is linked to the cost of gas, as nearly 30 per cent of all electricity is produced by burning gas.

I don’t use gas, I don’t need gas, but yet the gas price affects my energy costs. What a wrong and broken system.

Rasputin007

This will hit us all in the pocket

It’s not just crude oil and LNG.

It’s refined products, such as petrol, diesel and kerosene (used to power aircraft and as heating “oil”).

Some of the biggest refineries in the world can’t export and, as a result, China, which also has huge refineries, has just announced a ban on exports of refined products.

This is going to hit us all in the pocket.

Thanks, Mr President.

ppundit

Fuel prices rise like a rocket and fall like a feather

By the same process, oil prices have been previously falling in the last month, and I would be surprised if customers were given a refund when the price was cheaper than when they ordered.

Fuel prices rise like a rocket and fall like a feather.

huwjardon

We could have been better insulated against these oil shocks

We could have been much better insulated against these oil shocks but, surprise, the last government made planning for new renewables extremely difficult.

We’re reaping what they sowed.

WorkshyFop

Gas prices up within 48 hours

Gas prices have already gone up about 45¢ a gallon in my area for no other reason than big corporate oil greed.

Trump keeps telling the US that we produce all of the petroleum products we need right here at home. If that’s so, why did prices go up within 48 hours of his newest military adventurism? I wonder if that $1.68 a gallon gas he was bragging about is still available?

Freethought

Blanket excuses

Reeves delivered an awful lot of self-congratulatory back patting [in her spring statement], but very little in the way of decisive future plans or strategy to help alleviate the economic pressures on households and businesses. Just as the war in Ukraine was used as a blanket excuse to cover fiscal failures of the last clown show government, so Israel and US warmongering in the Middle East will be used by wretched Reeves as an all-covering blanket excuse as to why her policies have also miserably failed.

Benjaminrabbit

We need to pull out of this wholesale market

Any excuse. We need to pull out of this wholesale market. We don’t need it. Back in the 90s we were forecast to overproduce by as much as 20 per cent, and that’s the only reason we joined this market. The cost to produce our energy is less than a tenth of what we ourselves pay for it today – think about that. Ninety per cent is going somewhere else: 30 per cent in infrastructure, 10 per cent in some nonsense to the Government, and 50 per cent is profits to people down the line.

GetOffMyLand

People need to kick up a fuss

Marginal pricing of electricity is a scandal.

Profiteering is systemic – people need to kick up a fuss.

LennyThunderhawk

Oil prices on the way up

Wow, who could have foreseen a huge spike in oil prices (it’s on the way up)? Well, to be fair, just about everybody.

As we know, if oil prices go up, the price of everything goes up. Trump thought this would be over by today. He’s going to come under massive pressure to end this quickly, but I don’t think Iran will oblige.

bloodwort

Bring in rationing

The problem is that everyone will panic and fill the tank to the brim, causing a shortage.

Bring in rationing straight away.

Pomerol95

Volatile market

Right now, futures CFD for UK natural gas are trading up 28.2 per cent.

The UK’s lack of natural gas storage – closed by the Conservatives to “save money” – makes the UK gas market volatile. Unfortunately, the UK bases your energy bill on the price of gas.

The arguments to increase reliance on renewables are overwhelming.

wolfie

Those making malign decisions always escape the suffering

You can be certain that neither Trump nor Netanyahu will have difficulty paying their energy bills.

As with the young people sacrificed on the battlefield, those making malign or idiotic decisions for the rest of us always seem to escape the suffering.

Klingsor2

Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.

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