Months ago, Yorkers could see the price of their heating oil soaring to unprecedented, and perhaps unaffordable, heights.

But if there's a bright spot in the current state of the economy, it might be the tumbling price of crude oil.

With a barrel of crude oil selling at about $70 for the first time in several months, unleaded gasoline is accordingly selling for less than $3 per gallon and home heating oil is selling for $3.29 per gallon.

In June, area oil companies were projecting that prices for home heating oil could settle close to $5 per gallon.

Shipley Fuels was offering customers a $4.79 per gallon price for its "cap" program, under which customers can "lock-in" a price above which their fuel is guaranteed not to climb.

If the actual price of oil is lower than the cap price, the customer gets the lower price.

Customers can lock in a price only once per winter season, and those who waited to enter a cap agreement could save money by locking in now with lower prices.

Shipley is currently offering customers a cap price of $3.69 per gallon, said marketing director Bob Astor.

That's a significant increase over last year's $2.59 per gallon cap price, but locking in at $3.69 per gallon could protect custom-
ers from increased costs if the market rebounds.

Lock in now?: But Astor said it's hard to offer customers any advice because the market has been so volatile.

Oil prices could continue to fall, but they could also start to climb again, he said.

"Certainly it would appear that it's going to be an easier winter than we would have projected two months ago from a heating oil price standpoint," he said. "... But weather and world events can certainly turn this market on its ear. ... Could something cause this market to rebound dramatically? Certainly. The market is very reactive to world events, and we're not out of hurricane season yet."

Some out of luck: While Shipley regularly adjusts the price of its cap program, some smaller companies might have lost out on being able to offer lower prices.

Edris Oil Service Inc. manager Tim Naylor said the North York company is only able to set one cap price per year because of the amount of paperwork involved in getting the insurance necessary to offer a guaranteed price.

The company is still offering a cap of $4.39 per gallon, a rate it set months ago when the price was still climbing. Customers who enroll in the program will pay the company's current rate for oil, not to exceed $4.39 per gallon, Naylor said.

Though current trends show the price moving down, Naylor said he's skeptical of the market.

"We still can go back up for no reason," he said. "Just like a couple months ago, people were thinking we're still going up ... but the winds changed and we started going down in a hurry. The same thing could happen for prices to go back up. You never can tell what Wall Street is thinking."

"It's impossible to give good recommendations, as you can see (the price) moved well over a dollar in basically three months," he said. "The volatility is unprecedented."

But whatever the price, people can save money with furnace updates, insulation, and good energy practices, he said.

--Reach Christina Kauffman at 505-5436 or ckauffman@yorkdis patch.com.