Oil prices have dipped yet again in Northern Ireland and are almost as low as last summer

(Click here to read Ben Lowry saying last month that it was a good time to buy oil. Prices are even lower since then)

​The average cost of 500 litres fell below the £300 mark to £299 last week, while 900 litres dropped to £529, according to the NI Consumer Council, which tracks prices.

This is only slightly more expensive than the lows of last summer, when oil hovered around the £285 level for 500ltrs and around £500 for 900ltrs.

That was the lowest prices had been since the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. For much of the post invasion period home heating oil has cost more than 85p a litre (£425 for 500l; £765 for 900l) and at times the fuel has cost an eye-watering £1 a litre or more to purchase. This meant that households fuelled by oil, which is a majority of homes in Northern Ireland, suffered from the cost of living crisis as badly as anyone else did.

It now costs 40% less to fill up a tank than it did during those Ukraine war highs, with oil currently for sale at just under 60p a litre.

This is despite the war in the Middle East, which began on October 7 with the Hammas attacks on Israel. This led to fears that conflict in the oil-rich region would lead to supply issues and an increase in price but in fact prices never went up.

On the contrary, prices have fallen steadily, albeit haphazardly, since then from around £400 for 500 ltrs and from around £700 for 900 ltrs to present levels.

Anyone buying the latter amount would now be saving almost £200 compared to early October.