// BBC BUSINESS NEWS — FINANZA
Heating oil customers face tough winter
Nicola Sharpe said she would normally have stocked up by now but was holding off in the hope the price would fall
Some people say they are finding it hard to heat their homes after increases in heating oil costs fuelled by the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Residents in the South West told the BBC they have held off buying fuel for the winter in the hope prices could come down and feared some people might go without.
It comes as the government announced new measures aimed at regulating the market and reviewing the minimum amounts some people have to buy.
Heating fuel costs have risen by up to 82% since the start of the conflict, according to the Minster for Energy Consumers Polly Billington.
Billington told the BBC: "We need to make sure the market is working as fairly as possible."
She said it was "striking" how rural communities with "so many people off grid" were "some of the most exposed" to the price increases.
Nicola Sharpe, from Dunsford, Devon, said this time last year she was paying about £340 for 500 litres, but the price was currently just over £600 for the same amount.
"I'm looking at ways to spread the cost when I have to bite the bullet and get it," she said.
Earlier in October, the government promised better regulation of the sector.