The price of home heating fuel has nearly doubled as the impact of the conflict in the Middle East begins to bite in the Isle of Man.

Island Fuels apologised to customers over the home heating prices that came into effect on April 1.

‘It’s absolutely pulling on our heartstrings and completely out of our control,’ a spokesperson posted on Facebook.

A customer contacted Media IoM to show how the cost of their order had risen 91% since January.

Back then EVF’s unit price was 65.5p and the bill for 900 litres worked out at £589.50 plus VAT.

Ordering a top-up this week, the price he was quoted for 900 litres was £1,129.38 plus VAT, the unit price being 125.5p.

Manx Petroleum, meanwhile, is currently quoting £1,011.15 for 900 litres of domestic heating oil.

Island Fuels is offering a new minimum delivery of 100 litres to help customers with their budgets.

Ellan Vannin Fuels is also offering small top-ups of home heating fuel on the pump at its Brown Bobby filling station, with 20 litres for £25.10 and 100 litres for £125.50.

EVF said this was ‘perfect for budgeting while prices are as high’. ‘Hopefully, we’ll see improvements on our next shipment,’ it added.

An EVF spokesperson told Media IoM: ’Events in the Middle East have created significant volatility in the oil market, with wholesale prices and customer demand changing daily.

‘Our customer services team is available to support anyone with questions about their order.

‘We are sorry for the ongoing uncertainty, which is outside our control, but we want to reassure customers that we have strong supply agreements and a nationwide depot network.’

Speaking in the House of Keys this week, Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said the government expected fuel pricing to stabilise and remain stable for the next few weeks.

‘We have seen significant increases in fuel prices at the pumps, and we are now about to see significant increases in home oil prices as new supplies start to be delivered,’ he said.

With a fresh fuel delivery into Peel harbour delayed for three days by bad weather, pumps at some EVF garages ran dry of diesel last weekend as motorists scrambled to top up before the price rises came in.

Long queues formed on Peel Road in Douglas on Monday.

A tanker carrying 4.5m litres of fuel was finally able to dock on Monday evening.

But the price of diesel has leapt from 137.9p to 185.9p, while unleaded had gone up from 133.9p to between 145.9p and 156.9p.

Manx Petroleums, whose tanker was able to dock in Douglas on Saturday, insisted it didn’t run out of road fuel or heating oil at the weekend.

‘Our forecourts only “ran dry” because demand was so high that a full weekend worth of fuel deliveries disappeared in record time,’ the company said.

Manx Petroleum said its next shipment is already planned and there are no indications of delay or shortage of supply.