Best time of year to lock in oil heating price?

An advantageous time of year to lock in an oil contract?

Most oil companies seem to have some kind of a cap program for buying oil from them. I think the best ones also allow you to buy at a lower price if the market price drops.

Any recommendations as to when one should sign on with a new company?

Thanks,

David

cnn at 8:00 pm et tonight has a program about this very subject> http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/presents/

(from cnn):
What if a hurricane wiped out Houston, Texas, and terrorists attacked oil production in Saudi Arabia? CNN Presents looks at a hypothetical scenario about the vulnerability of the world's oil supply, the world's remaining sources of oil and explores the potential of alternative fuels.

I'm still kicking myself. Had a chance to lock in at $1.999 and didn't do it. Now paying $2.699

My oil company (in central Massachusetts) used to offer

cap price contracts in June. For the last two years they have waited until late August or September before setting their contract rates. Last year they offered two types of contracts: a fixed price contract where you would continue to pay the same even if the price of oil went down, and a cap price where your maximum$/gal is fixed but you could pay less if the price of oil dropped below the cap price. As I recall, the cap price contract was about $0.10/gallon less than the fixed price contract.

Services

David,
Price is always a major factor in deciding who will be your oil supplier.

However,

You should factor in your expectations about the company. Will they simply be filling your tank with oil or will they be supplying maintenance services as well?

If you need a full service company I would not let a few cents per gallon be the deciding factor. If the average home burns 1,000 gallons annually and the spread is .10 per gallon between a company that has performed well with a history of being available when you need them the most
(read 10* outside @ 11:00 on a Saturday night)and a company with a low initial offer I would think twice about making the move. That $100 "savings" could easily evaperate in a # of ways.

Keith

Thanks Dan; the area is Nassau County LI, NY

For my mother's house. The Wall has already pointed me to a good company --one that you know well. And I agree price isn't the only thing. They need to have their own qualified technicians to give good service. And the company I found does let the price go below the cap and appears to have solid service.

I realize all the usual price guidelines go out the window when someone sneezes in the middle east, but it's good to know that june or late summer seems to be the consensus as to when thet best prices can get locked in. I wonder if that's because the oil delivery companies don't like to lock in prices too far in advance of the heating season or they could get stuck with eating a last minute increase--which I guess might have happened with Katrina.

I guess the 'driving season' from May through Sept. must factor in also. I wonder which consumes more oil in the US, driving or home heating?

Thanks,

David

before my computer crashed , i had a calculator .....

Constantin gave us, a while back.....

Selling Farm Diesel right now

Bets with our company is now for farm Diesel and June for fuel oil.

We will offer cap pricing with a lower price guarentee, if the price goes down we will pass it on for the next automatic delivery.

Great question we are located in upstate NY we are asked daily on policy and price

Terry