Heating Oil

Approximately seven percent of American households - some 8.1 million in total, with nearly one-third in the Northeastern states - rely on heating oil to keep warm in winter. Refiners make heating oil from crude oil, which is also the raw material for other petroleum products such as gasoline and jet fuel.  To learn more about heating oil, please see the information below or visit API's Facts on Fuel heating oil page.

Winter outlook
What should consumers expect this winter? For one view, please see the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook. Please also see API's own weekly report, U.S. Distillate Fuel Update, on heating oil and supplies. 

Heating oil supplies
As the weather grows colder, refineries manufacture most (about 90%) of the heating oil consumers need, but they also draw on supplies produced earlier in the year.  

Consumers and heating oil
Ever wonder where heating oil comes from? Or why prices fluctuate? Or even how you can help to lower your heating oil bills? Residential Heating Oil Prices: What Consumers Should Know by the U.S. Department of Energy helps answer some of those questions.

Lowering your heating oil bill
The Federal Energy Management Program provides additional tips on how consumers can conserve to reduce their home heating oil costs. For more information, download the PDF below.

 Download - Lowering your heating oil bill
File Size: 14.4 KB |  License: Free

Help paying heating bills
You may be able to get financial aid to help pay your heating bills this winter.  The federal LIHEAP program (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) gives money to states to help qualifying families pay their heating bills.

Heat with propane or natural gas?
For information about propane, go to the U.S. Energy Administration's Propane Prices: What Consumers Should Know. To learn about natural gas, please visit API's natural gas page and also the natural gas section of the U.S. Energy Information Administration's website.