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Prices Down For Home Heating Oil

SUNBURY — Employees at an oil company in Sunbury say oil prices are the lowest they’ve been in about 10 years. Even so, the company says the low pri...

SUNBURY -- Employees at an oil company in Sunbury say oil prices are the lowest they've been in about 10 years.

Even so, the company says the low prices are not bringing in extra business.

Employees at Oakes Oil Company in Sunbury say prices are usually high this time of year, but this year that is not the case. The manager believes this is because a lot of people are switching to natural gas, so there is an excess of oil.

An employee at Oakes Oil Company in Sunbury filled up the tank at a home on Haas Avenue.

When the homeowner gets her bill, she will most likely be happier than last year. The manager at Oakes says oil prices dropped significantly over the last month. He says they are the lowest they've been in 10 years at $2.86 a gallon.

"Tomorrow it could go down, it's possible, another five cents. It could go back up. It all depends what people in the market decide to do," said Oakes Oil manager Donald Mull.

Mull says the average price of oil earlier this year was $3.75 a gallon. Even though prices are lower now, Mull says they have not seen an increase in business.

Employees at Oakes believe oil prices could be going down because so many people are switching to natural gas.

"The considerably lower prices of natural gas, the oil companies have an overabundance of oil, and the people just aren't buying it like they used to," Mull said.

People in Sunbury who use oil to heat their homes say they are excited about the lower prices and hope they stay this way.

"There's a lot of people who could really use the help and lowering prices is going to make it a lot more affordable. People will be able to stay warmer, hopefully," said Sunbury resident Angel Badman.

"It's great. I wish it would go down even lower, down to what it was when I was growing up, a buck a gallon," said Joseph Judy of Sunbury.

He says he's already sees a difference in his wallet.

"This year I spent about $900 already. Last year this time it was over $1,000."

In addition to lower oil prices, gasoline prices also continue to drop. AAA says this is because of a decreased demand for gasoline and an increased supply.

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