June 28, 2008 Home heating oil expected to hit record highs

WASHINGTON (AP) - New Englanders struggling to pay gas prices topping $4 a gallon should brace for more bad news - home heating oil costs next winter are expected to hit record highs.

The National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, which represents state-run low income energy assistance programs, has predicted that home heating oil costs will hit record levels this winter.

The group said the national average cost to heat a home with oil this winter will be $2,593, up from $1,962 last winter. Families in cold-weather Northeast states will be hit even harder.

One retail heating oil dealer says she expects a typical household delivery that cost $500 last winter will climb to at least $850 this winter.

About 40 percent of Massachusetts homes use oil heat.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)