Business · Energy & Commodities · 10 hrs ago
Low Rhine levels threaten Swiss heating oil supplies as prices rise
Heating oil prices have risen sharply in Switzerland as the country enters the heating season.
Around one in three Swiss residential buildings uses heating oil, so higher prices affect many households.
Very low water levels in Germany’s Middle Rhine are restricting cargo ships, which cannot carry their usual loads.
The Rhine is a major route for Swiss supplies, and Germany provided about two-thirds of Switzerland’s imported oil products in 2025.
Mineral oil deliveries to Basel fell almost 80% in August compared with the same month a year earlier.
Importers are turning mainly to rail, while the Swiss government has already released reserve stocks of petrol and diesel after a refinery fault.
Aviation fuel supplies could become more strained from mid-October, and the sources give no further update on how the supply situation will develop.
Swiss heating oil prices have risen sharply as low water levels on the Rhine disrupt fuel deliveries.
The Rhine is effectively unusable for Swiss mineral oil imports, according to the federal supply agency.
At Kaub in Germany’s Middle Rhine valley, water levels have repeatedly fallen to record lows, limiting ships’ cargoes.
Around one-third of Swiss residential buildings are heated with oil.
The price rise is attributed mainly to the war in Iran and its effects on global supply chains and energy markets.
- Who
- Swiss heating oil consumers and importers are affected.
- What
- Low Rhine water levels are disrupting Swiss heating oil supplies as prices rise.
- When
- At the start of the 2026 heating season; the article was published on 15 October 2026.
- Where
- Switzerland, with the shipping bottleneck in Germany’s Middle Rhine valley near Kaub.
- Why
- Low water levels restrict Rhine shipping. The article attributes rising prices mainly to the war in Iran and its effects on global supply chains and energy markets.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Water levels at Kaub were below 25 centimetres on most days.
The level at Kaub repeatedly fell below zero.
The federal supply agency said the Rhine was effectively unusable for Swiss mineral oil imports.
Mineral oil deliveries to Basel’s ports fell to 38,800 tonnes, almost 80 percent less than a year earlier.
The federal government released mandatory stocks of petrol and diesel after Switzerland’s only refinery temporarily stopped operating.
- Heating oil in Bern
- 171 Swiss francs per 100 litres for a 3,000-litre purchase
- Heating oil price in Zurich
- Official reference price was 117.50 francs per 100 litres at the end of June
- Kaub water level
- 10 centimetres on the Thursday before publication
- Swiss mineral oil imports by ship via Basel
- More than 22 percent in 2025
- Mineral oil deliveries to Basel ports
- 38,800 tonnes in August, almost 80 percent lower year on year
1 source
What people are saying
For mineral oil imports into Switzerland, the Rhine is currently effectively unusable.
The Rhine’s freight traffic is massively restricted.
The current situation is comparable to no low-water event of the past ten years.