Esther McVey is demanding action to end the “blatant profiteering” by some energy suppliers cashing in on instability in the Middle East.
The price of oil heating – the source of heating for many rural homes – has doubled in price in recent days.
Ms McVey has written to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) calling for an urgent investigation to protect consumers.
Ms McVey said: “Many of my constituents (and families up and down the country in rural areas) have no choice but to heat their homes this way. Some are now having existing orders cancelled to be told they have to re-order and then are being charged double.
“This is blatant profiteering and needs to stop.”
Ms McVey, along with Conservative colleagues are calling on the competition watchdog to investigate three areas; price gouging during the Iran conflict, local monopolies and lack of price transparency and systematic overcharging of customers on automatic delivery schemes.
Ms McVey added: “We believe that a transparent pricing policy would go some way to protecting customers and this should be looked at, as a matter of urgency. Many areas are served by the same provider and quotes are often provided over the phone, and with no legal requirement to publish prices, there is little or no opportunity to shop around or know if pricing is fair.”
Customers heating homes with oil are not protected by the energy price cap, unlike mains gas and electricity customers.
The UK is heavily reliant on oil and gas imports. Iran previously warned vessels not to pass through the Strait of Hormuz where about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and gas is shipped.
Nationally, 1.5 million homes are heated with oil.
