He warned that several aspects of the cost of living could increase
Martin Lewis has issued a troubling warning about how bills could be impacted by the conflict in Iran. Oil prices have surged following US-Israeli military strikes on the nation.
Analysts are concerned this will trigger a domino effect on energy bills and living costs, while also pushing up prices instantly at petrol stations. Mr Lewis had previously warned on his BBC podcast that some households are already experiencing a dramatic surge in their fuel costs. The money-saving expert has now posted data on X revealing the rising expenses consumers are facing. He shared two charts from market analysis firm Trading Economics.
One dataset showed price movements for Brent crude oil whilst the other tracked UK Natural Gas, both showing significant increases over recent days. Mr Lewis said: “Two depressing graphs to contrast where we are now with the conflict in the Middle East to the peak of the Russia Ukraine energy crisis.
“The first is the price of oil, which drives petrol costs, heating oil costs, and risks knock on inflationary costs including to food as the cost of transporting anything increases. This isn’t too far from the peak of Russia Ukraine. The second is natural gas which is a main driver of UK electricity prices too.
“Here while it’s doubled since the conflict started it is still, at the moment, far short of the Russia Ukraine peak.” He urged caution against drawing hasty conclusions from the past week’s data. Mr Lewis explained: “With both though, ultimately the height of the rise is only one factor, just as important is how long it lasts.”
One person replied to his post suggesting the price surge would deliver “massive profits” for energy suppliers. Mr Lewis offered a different take on this question.
Energy suppliers ‘going bust’
He said: “For generators and distributors almost certainly, the opposite for retailers which is why we have to hope the stress testing Ofgem did works so we don’t see any go bust.” This comes after a listener to Mr Lewis’ BBC podcast from Lincolnshire reported seeing a dramatic spike in heating oil costs, which they’d narrowly sidestepped.
They’d recently ordered 1,000 litres of heating oil for £645. However, when they checked back with the same supplier following the Iran crisis, the cost had more than doubled to £1,480 – an eye-watering increase of £835.
The listener remarked: “We did OK but feel for others who only have oil heaters.” Responding to this concern, Mr Lewis advised those purchasing heating oil to compare prices from different suppliers.
He suggested households could potentially secure better rates by joining forces with neighbours to buy heating oil in bulk. However, Mr Lewis spelled out the reality that home heating oil prices go up “immediately” whenever the price of oil rises.
He explained: “If you’re unlucky enough to be coming to the end of your tank right now and having to refill it, it is going to be extremely costly. Sadly, barring doing the comparison and collective buying, I don’t have many solutions on that.”
