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A spokesperson for west Cork oil company, West Cork Oil Company Ltd, said the price of diesel has rocketed in the past weeks to 59c/l. Before this it was approximately 55c/l.
"What we're hearing is that the big oil producers had high stocks and supplies which is why the price was low," the spokesperson said. "But now they're reducing supplies and the price is shooting up."
She added that it is a particularly bad time for this to happen in the agricultural world, as it is one of the busiest times of the year for machinery work on the farm.
"It is a very bad time for the price to be rising, because when prices were low all farmers were really doing was a bit of yard work. Now they're flat out cutting grass on the farm."
Similarly, the price of road fuel is also rising, according to an AA Roadwatch survey. The AA is warning motorists that the period of cheap fuel prices has come to an end after both diesel and unleaded fuel costs continued to climb this month.
A litre of petrol now costs an average of 129.1c, up 3.1c, while diesel rose by 2.1c to 113.2c, according to the AA’s survey of national fuel prices.
Comment
Richie White, who was recently elected as the new national chair of the Association of Farm Contractors of Ireland, says the green diesel price hike is making life even more difficult for contractors at the moment.
"The price has been rising erratically over the past few weeks. One night it's down, the next night it's up. But it always rises by a higher amount than it went down. It's just very unclear what's happening with the oil price at the moment and it's making life even more difficult for contractors."
As far as the reasons for this volatility are concerned, White says the "world economy is all over the place" at the moment.
"It's like the way things are with commodity prices, the world economy is very unstable and it's not clear at all where the price will be tomorrow, let alone in a few weeks. It's very hard working with that uncertainty".
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