In the midst of a July heatwave keeping warm in winter couldn’t be further from people’s minds but give it a few months and the cost of home heating oil is bound to become a hot topic once again.

Earlier this week saw the publication of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) investigation into the home heating oil market. Launched in March, on foot of the US attacks on Iran, the study sought to identify how protections for customers could be strengthened in a market that is currently unregulated.

At the peak of the conflict in the Middle East there was significant disruption to supplies, with average retail prices soaring up to 92% higher.

The CMA examined the entire UK market but because a far larger proportion of homes in Northern Ireland are reliant on home heating oil, its findings are likely to have greater ramifications here than elsewhere.

One notable fact to emerge from the investigation is that consumers in the north pay less – sometimes more than 15% less – for their home heating oil than their counterparts in Britain. There was also praise for the Consumer Council’s daily-updated ‘price checker’ – seemingly a first in the UK – which the CMA said provides “effective benchmarking” of retail prices.

Yet beyond that, there isn’t a great deal to cheer about when it comes to the fuel that heats almost two-thirds of our homes. Likewise, there’ll be little reassurance for customers knowing that Stormont will be responsible for introducing any new regulations recommended by the watchdog.

Its report concluded that the spike in retail prices soon after the US began its assault on Iran was largely reflective of increases in wholesale costs. It also found that, on the whole, the market is competitive and that there tended to be less price variations in Northern Ireland than in Britain.

Nonetheless, CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said competition was “not enough to ensure good outcomes for all”.

In terms of protections, oil customers are clearly at a disadvantage compared to those who use gas, and to a lesser extent electricity, to heat their homes, with both the latter markets overseen by a regulator ensuring agreed standards and formal safeguards.

The CMA recommends the creation of what it terms a “proportionate regulatory regime” with authorised suppliers and an up-to-date record of the households reliant on oil.

Special provisions should be made for vulnerable customers during periods of volatility, the CMA said, while a mandatory code of conduct should also be adopted by suppliers.

Other measures would include a review of the rules that restrict minimum order volumes, which mean people are often forced to pay more for pre-filled containers, and clearer information about available payment plans.

The watchdog essentially concedes there’s no magic wand to transform the home heating oil market, only the need to provide better information and greater pricing transparency.

Political reaction to the report has been generally subdued.

The Alliance Party called the CMA’s intervention a “welcome first step” and argued that the retail home heating oil market should be brought into the remit of the Utility Regulator.

Sinn Féin, the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP all welcomed the report but also highlighted to varying degrees the need to invest in more sustainable alternatives.

Ending the reliance on home heating oil is the nettle Stormont seems reluctant to grasp, even though the current situation places tens of thousands of homes in jeopardy should there be a global oil crisis.

Market volatility, the absence of price caps, and looming environmental costs all have the potential to send retail prices to unprecedented levels yet there appears to be a complacency among the political class.

In a media environment dominated by culture wars, renewable alternatives to oil-fired heating, such as heat pumps, get very little coverage but swathes of the north could quickly become a cold house for nationalists and unionists alike.