Heating-oil price shock sets in

Mike Adams is so tired of answering telephone calls about heating oil prices, he’s ready to lock the phone in a drawer.

“People are panicking. They’re calling every other day, every day,” said Adams, owner of Adams Petroleum in Emsworth, a family business that’s been delivering heating oil for nearly 75 years.


“They ask me, ‘What should we do?’ I tell them, ‘My crystal ball is cloudy, I don’t know,’” Adams said.

The only certainty concerning heating oil, electricity and natural gas used for heating homes this coming winter is that prices are rising — quickly and substantially, experts said.

“Heating oil is expensive. It’s already at a near-record price and it’s not even cold yet,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. “Prices have been going up each year but this year’s prices could really shock people.”

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review