Martin Lewis has shared a concerning update about how energy bills will be affected by the ongoing conflict in Iran. The price of oil has jumped up since the USA and Israel began bombarding the country.

Experts fear this will have a knock-on effect for energy bills and the cost of living, as well as increasing prices immediately at the petrol pump. Mr Lewis previously warned some bill payers are already being hit with a huge spike in their fuel bills.

Now the financial journalist has shared some data on X showing the rise in costs facing consumers. He shared two graphs from market price tracking group Trading Economics.

One data set showed the price changes for Brent crude oil and the other for UK natural gas, both of which have vastly increased over the past week or so.

Mr Lewis said: “Two depressing graphs to contrast where we are now with the conflict in the Middle East to the peak of the Russia Ukraine energy crisis. The first is the price of oil, which drives petrol costs, heating oil costs, and risks knock on inflationary costs including to food as the cost of transporting anything increases.

“This isn’t too far from the peak of Russia Ukraine. The second is natural gas which is a main driver of UK electricity prices too. Here while it’s doubled since the conflict started it is still, at the moment, far short of the Russia Ukraine peak.”

Only one factor

He added a word of caution not to read too much into the figures for the past week. Mr Lewis said: “With both though, ultimately the height of the rise is only one factor, just as important is how long it lasts.”

One person responded to the post saying the hike in prices would mean “massive profits” for energy suppliers. Mr Lewis responded to share his take on this question.

He said: “For generators and distributors almost certainly, the opposite for retailers which is why we have to hope the stress testing Ofgem did works so we don’t see any go bust.”

Huge price increases already hitting families

A listener to Mr Lewis’ BBC podcast from Lincolnshire said they had noticed a huge increase in the price of heating oil, which they had narrowly avoided. They said that they had placed an order recently for 1,000 litres of heating oil, priced at £645.

The person checked with the same supplier after the Iran conflict broke out, and the price had more than doubled, jumping up to £1,480, with an extra £835 to pay. The person said: “We did OK but feel for others who only have oil heaters.”

In light of the comment, Mr Lewis urged people buying heating oil to shop around to see if they can get a better price. He said you may also be able to get a cheaper price by clubbing together with your neighbours to collectively buy heating oil.

But Mr Lewis warned the price of home heating oil naturally “goes up immediately” when oil prices increase. He said: “If you’re unlucky enough to be coming to the end of your tank right now and having to refill it, it is going to be extremely costly. Sadly, barring doing the comparison and collective buying, I don’t have many solutions on that.”