By Zhao Xiaona, Larry Neild
LONDON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that the government will provide 53 million pounds (70.49 million U.S. dollars) in emergency funding to help vulnerable households cope with rising heating oil costs as global energy prices climb amid tensions in the Middle East.
The aid is mainly targeted at low-income families in rural communities, where reliance on oil for home heating is common. Experts, however, are raising doubts about whether government support will be enough, saying rising oil prices are putting renewed pressure on rural households.
Gas and electricity prices in Britain are subject to a price cap set by the energy regulator Ofgem. Heating oil, however, is treated as a market commodity, and is not covered by the cap, allowing prices to track global oil markets. Without price protection, households using heating oil are particularly exposed to global energy shocks.
Simon Francis of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition said heating oil costs have risen sharply in recent weeks. "The cost of heating oil has surged sharply over the past two weeks as conflict in the Middle East pushes global oil markets higher," he told Xinhua, adding that the cost of filling a heating oil tank has doubled in less than 14 days.
Northern Ireland is particularly affected, with roughly 500,000 homes relying on heating oil, accounting for nearly two-thirds of households. By comparison, about three percent of households in England and Wales and about five percent in Scotland use heating oil as their sole source of central heating.
Rural communities are especially vulnerable because many homes are not connected to the gas grid and have limited heating options, researchers say.
Keith Baker, a research fellow in fuel poverty and energy policy at Glasgow Caledonian University, told Xinhua that some communities have struggled with fuel poverty for years before tensions in the Middle East.
Places such as Orkney, a remote island archipelago off the coast of northern Scotland, already have among the highest rates of fuel poverty in the country, with residents reporting difficulties in affording home heating even under normal conditions.
Baker said a prolonged crisis in the Middle East could make the situation "even more severe," noting that some households may struggle to afford rising heating costs, particularly in the coldest parts of the country.
He said policymakers should not focus only on households formally classified as fuel poor, as many others live close to that threshold and risk falling into hardship without early intervention.
Charities representing older people have also questioned whether government support will be enough.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, told Xinhua that the funding is welcome but unlikely to match the scale of the problem, particularly for older households already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
Polling commissioned by Age UK found that even before the latest surge in energy prices, about one-third of people aged 66 and over, or around 4.2 million people, had reduced heating or electricity use this winter due to rising costs.
Neil Simcock, senior lecturer in environmental sciences at Liverpool John Moores University, told Xinhua that the government's aid package provides only a short-term solution.
"The domestic oil market isn't currently regulated by Ofgem, which leaves oil users much more vulnerable to dramatic and sudden price increases," he said, adding that stronger consumer protections, including a price-cap system similar to those used for gas and electricity, should be considered.
The situation highlights the need to move away from fossil-fuel-based heating systems, experts noted. Electrically-powered heat pumps and other low-carbon heating technologies could offer cheaper and more secure energy sources, particularly if rural households receive priority support to facilitate the transition.
