Heating oil prices.
Simply compared.Heating oil prices.
Simply compared.

Traders sent crude oil down nearly 9% on Wednesday, betting that a Democratic Congress will push President Trump towards a deal with Iran. That left it under $95 a barrel, the lowest since the start of September. On Thursday they pushed it back up nearly 4%, because ships in the Gulf are still being hit. The UK's maritime monitor reported a tanker struck by projectiles off Qatar, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed two tankers and a tugboat caught fire in the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane that carries about a fifth of the world's oil. Iran has also called America's latest reply 'not convincing'. The Bank of England raised interest rates to 4% on Thursday, but the pound barely moved, so oil, bought in dollars, got no cheaper. Europe's big fuel ports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp now hold nearly 29% more jet fuel than a week ago, and UK heating oil follows jet fuel and diesel, not crude.

Your next fill. At Fueltool's UK average today, a 1,000-litre fill costs about £1,150 including VAT. That is roughly £10 less than at Wednesday's brief and about the same as our daily figure a week ago, as UK prices have moved far less than crude this week.

What to watch. Whether Iran and America accept the deal Qatar and Pakistan are working on, in which Iran would stop attacking ships and America would lift its blockade of Iranian ports. Whether tankers keep getting through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran's Revolutionary Guards now call 'unsafe and closed' to any ship that has not cleared its passage with Tehran. And the suspension of the 4% tariff on imported heating oil, which starts on 26 November.