The average U.S. home heating oil price was $6.23 a gallon in the week of October 26, 2026 — $2.64 (73%) higher than a year ago. Propane averaged $2.73, 12% higher than a year ago.
What makes up the price of a gallon
A gallon of heating oil costs your dealer the wholesale price of the fuel, and the rest pays for storage, trucks, drivers, overheads and profit. This week, roughly:
Based on the New York Harbor wholesale price on the survey date against the U.S. average retail price. Local wholesale costs differ a little by region.
So about 77% of the price is the fuel itself, which is why heating oil follows world oil markets so closely. The dealer share, $1.43 a gallon, is close to its 5-winter average of $1.45, so the price is being driven by the wholesale cost of the fuel, not by dealer margins.
The main reasons prices are where they are
- Crude oil. Heating oil is refined from crude oil. The world benchmark, Brent crude, was $123 a barrel on October 27, compared with $66 a year earlier. When crude rises, every product made from it — heating oil, diesel, jet fuel — follows.
- Wholesale heating oil and diesel. Heating oil is chemically almost the same as diesel, so it competes with trucks, farms and shipping for the same supply. Wholesale heating oil in New York Harbor was $4.67 a gallon on October 27, against $2.35 a year earlier. Low distillate stocks or refinery outages can push it up even when crude is steady.
- Winter demand. Most heating oil is burned in a few cold months, mainly in the Northeast. A cold snap raises demand for fuel and for delivery trucks at the same time.
- Local delivery costs. Wages, insurance, truck fuel and the cost of running small deliveries all sit in the dealer share. Prices vary between dealers in the same town for this reason.
- Propane is different. Most U.S. propane comes from natural gas processing, not crude oil, so its price follows its own market. Wholesale propane at Mont Belvieu, Texas, the main hub, was $1.20 a gallon on October 27 ($0.67 a year earlier). Wholesale is only about 41% of the retail propane price, so delivery and dealer costs matter much more than for oil.
Will prices come down?
In its October 2026 outlook the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects heating oil to average $5.26 a gallon this winter (2026–27), against $3.94 last winter. See the full heating oil price forecast and the propane forecast, including the month-by-month outlook.
Wholesale heating oil fell 20¢ in the two weeks to October 27. Retail prices usually follow wholesale moves within a few weeks.
What you can do
- Check your quote against your state's average on the heating oil prices by state page — every state page has a quote checker.
- Compare at least two or three dealers. The gap between local dealers is often bigger than a whole month's change in the average.
- Know how much you have. Use the oil tank chart and the how long will my oil last calculator so you can order before you run low and avoid emergency delivery charges.
- Look for help if you need it. The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) helps eligible households with heating bills through state agencies.