Home Heating Oil - Lock in Price

For what it's worth, I want to share with my friends out there my recent experience with heating oil prices in the hope that it may be of benefit to you.

For a long while now I have been annoyed with the price per gallon that my heating oil company has been charging. It had gone as high as $2.89 a gallon. Then early this month we got a delivery and it was priced at $2.69 a gallon. Better, but still above the average price in our region. I knew damn well that the price of oil had dropped sharply and this seemed like I was being ripped off. So finally, after receiving my new service contract bill, I called the billing department of the oil company ready to demand an explanation for what I considered price gouging.

Before I got two sentences out of my mouth the pleasant soft spoken young lady offered me heating oil for $2.29 a gallon if I was willing to lock in that price for a year. She explained that the price they offered varied daily depending on the immediate market conditions. Not only that but it would apply retroactively to the delivery already received.

Needless to say, I shut my mouth and jumped at the offer. Oil prices right now are at a multi month low. It seems to me a good time to lock it in for a year. Of course if prices drop further I may find myself overpaying, but only for the balance of the year.