I have no idea. This is the email I got. Not sure if it's BS or what.
I am writing this message to keep you informed regarding the oil market and the current situation. Currently most of the major suppliers are reporting that they are out, or will be out shortly, of their supply of home heating oil. This is why we are experiencing such a rapid increase in pricing.
The hurricane is being blamed as the acute reason for this outage. The oil barges had to be shut in to safe harbors to wait out the storm and the in-climate weather conditions that preceded and followed Hurricane Ian. This delay has led to the local supply outage. Some of the suppliers are reporting they will be resupplied in the next day or two; but that leaves the market without supply until resupply occurs.
I would like to point out that many suppliers are not surprised by this predicament; they have been fearful of the current conditions for some time. One main reason is the state of backwardation the heating oil commodities are in currently. Backwardations means that future months are less valuable than more forward months; under these conditions suppliers tend to run at lower levels to avoid losing value at the change of the calendar page. Then when an event such as a hurricane hits because they are hand to mouth on supply, they end up running out. This happened back in April/May, currently happening, and they predict this is how the winter will be going forward. Which means that these events could and will be likely to happen again. If you find yourself with low supply it is probably best to fill your tank when you have the chance. I cannot tell you prices will get better or that they will get worse; I can tell you that you need heating oil and you do not want to find yourself without a way to get it!
I do not want to set a panic and this immediate issue could be solved in the next day or two but I do feel you need to be informed. This event has led us to change the terms and conditions on our site so please review them prior to placing an order. We will do everything in our control to make sure we get you supply and at the best price we can; please know that this issue is down stream of us and we are doing all we can to deal with it appropriately