Dec 01, 2008 — The cost of home heating oil has confounded everyone this year. History dictates that prices follow demand: they drop in the summer and go up when it gets cold - and people need fuel to heat their homes. But this year, the cost per gallon peaked in mid-July. According to NYSERDA, the price of heating oil is at its lowest point of the year right now. This is good news for last-minute fuel buyers, but it's another financial mess for people who locked in a payment plan or bought all their oil over the summer. Keith Wells of Saranac Lake bought hundreds of gallons of fuel in July at $4.49 a gallon. Last week, the average price in the North Country fell to $2.83. Speaking with Brian Mann, Wells says he buys heating oil in bulk every summer. This is the first year, he says, when this strategy backfired - and cost him dearly.