Archive · 6 Oct 2026
US Heating-Oil Bills Forecast to Rise 21% This Winter
The US Energy Information Administration expects many families who heat their homes with oil to pay more this winter.
Their heating bills are forecast to be 21% higher than last winter.
Heating oil itself is expected to cost more than it did a year ago.
However, milder weather in the Northeast may mean families use less fuel.
About 3% of US households mainly heat their homes with oil, and most live in the Northeast.
In Maine, a gallon of heating fuel cost $5.96 on September 28.
The agency links tighter fuel supplies to the US-Iran war and Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries.
It also expects oil production and exports from the Middle East to gradually increase.
The US Energy Information Administration expects heating bills for oil-using households to rise 21% compared with last winter.
Heating-oil prices are projected to be 30% higher this winter than a year earlier.
Milder weather in the Northeast is expected to reduce fuel use and soften the increase in household bills.
About 3% of US households primarily use heating oil, most of them in the Northeast.
The EIA projects fourth-quarter Brent crude at $105 a barrel and retail diesel above $6 a gallon through October.
- Who
- US households that primarily use heating oil, and the US Energy Information Administration.
- What
- Heating bills for oil-using households are forecast to rise 21% this winter compared with last winter.
- When
- The forecast was released Tuesday, October 6, for the coming winter.
- Where
- United States, especially the Northeast.
- Why
- Heating-oil prices are expected to rise amid tighter supplies; milder Northeast weather may offset some of the increase by reducing fuel use.
- Expected heating-bill increase
- 21% compared with last winter
- Projected heating-oil price increase
- 30% this winter compared with a year earlier
- Households primarily using heating oil
- About 3% of US households
- Maine heating-oil price
- $5.96 per gallon as of September 28, nearly 80% above the year-earlier period
- Fourth-quarter Brent forecast
- $105 per barrel, $14 higher than the previous month's forecast
- Retail diesel outlook
- Expected to remain above $6 per gallon through October, then fall to $4.50 per gallon next year
- Regional weather factor
- Milder Northeast weather is expected to reduce fuel use and offset some household cost increases