Home owners throughout Fermanagh were panic buying home heating oil last week in a kneejerk response to the price of oil on the UK markets hitting $100 a barrel (159 litres/35 gallons) for the first time and, a 'first' was recorded at the Fuels and Lubricants depot outside Enniskillen when a 900 litre order was priced at £400, cash down.
An employee told the 'Herald' that in her 10 years with the company, it was the first time that 200 gallons (900 litres) had broken the £400 mark.
"This time last year, you would have paid £270 for the same amount and it had been moving between £390 and £400 this last while. I can tell you the orders are coming in thick and fast", she reported. "People can't get their orders in quick enough.
"This last couple of days it has been broadcast on the news that oil was going up so much per barrel and it seems people are panicking, and that in turn puts prices up".
She confirmed that in 'x' number of cases, people had placed orders for home heating oil they did not really need, for part tankfuls.
However, the Fuels and Lubricants price per litre, translated into euro, compares favourably with depots across the Border. At Breffni Oils, Killeshandra, the F & F price for 900 litres (570 euro) appears much more attractive than Breffni Oils 630 euro.
A spokesman for the company agreed, but pointed out that petrol and green diesel (for tractors) were much cheaper on the Southern side.
Over in Ballyconnell, where there are three filling stations, the proprietor of one of them, Tony Doonan (Rakeelan Service Station) was charging just short of 1.23 euro on Friday of last week for a litre of diesel and, likewise, a cent short of 1.21 euro for unleaded. In Blacklion, the respective prices were 125.9p each time. A typical 'inland' filing station in Fermanagh was charging, on the same day (with a price increase to be added on) 1.59 and 1.51 euro, respectively for diesel and unleaded.
Mr Doonan confirmed a marked Northern influx of drivers filling up at his station: "We do get a good Northern trade but, don't forget, the business is divided by three, so it's not a bumper trade in the way you would get in places such as Pettigo and Swanlinbar.
"But, we have a good steady trade. We have our own customers and Cassidy's have theirs and Donohue's Super Valu theirs".
The spokesman for Breffni Oils reported that his depot had had steady orders for home heating oil since the news broke of the soaring world oil prices.
"The weather, of course, dictates things to a certain amount and then it's on the news that the rice of oil is rising and that causes people to panic buy to some extent. But, to be fair, the Christmas period for us would have taken the sting out of that. We would have a lot of orders in just before Christmas".
Last week's daily oil price rises were blamed on unrest in oil supplying countries, such as Nigeria and Iraq as well as increased demand from China and India. Political unrest in Pakistan and Kenya are also thought to have added to market fears.
But, the oil producers' cartel, Opec which sets the price per barrel blamed US speculators for the high price of crude and they insisted there is plenty of oil in the market to meet demand. A US petrochemicals' expert described the $100 a barrel as an important milestone and he predicted that the price could go beyond that: "There's no opportunity for the price coming down in the next three month until the weather gets warmer", he added.
Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist Assemblyman, Tom Elliott hit out at the 'turning a blind eye' approach on the part of the authorities here in tackling laundered fuel.
"Northern Ireland is awash with doctored diesel, but the government has displayed a distinct lack of political will in dealing the smugglers and their criminal empires", he stated. "There is a perception that, for political reasons, the activities of paramilitary godfathers have been largely overlooked, and this has totally undermined public confidence".
He said the government's failure to deal with paramilitary groups and their illegal enterprises was
'disastrous' for society here: "While the government dithers, organised crime gangs are lining their pockets, forecourt operators are getting squeezed and the Exchequer is losing revenue hand over fist'.
Mr Elliott described the scale of this problem as, 'enormous', and gave as an example an estimation by the Organised Crime Task Force that in 2002 the then Chancellor of the Exchequer (Gordon Brown) was deprived of £340 million through non-UK duty paid fuel.
"The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee also estimated that between 1994 and 2002, 139 petrol stations closed. Republicans are the most heavily involved in fuel smuggling. During recent times, Sinn Fein members called on people from their community to co-operate with the PSNI. Any IRA pledge to do so will be meaningless if it refuses to abandon its criminal enterprises. The dissolution of the IRA must be absolute. They must be put out of business".
He suggested that, while pursuing criminal investigations was one route, the government could go after the smugglers by hitting their pockets.
"Lowering fuel duty to tie in with levels in the Republic would help to remove the incentive for smuggling. There is also a shortage of frontline personnel dedicated to investigating and confronting the problem. This must be addressed."
