Most oil-reliant homes are rural and tend to be poorly insulated compared to urban properties. More than seven times the proportion of rural homes are F or G rated, the lowest bands on the energy efficiency scale, compared to urban dwellings.
As a result, rural households in England already spend a third more to heat their homes than urban households do on average.
The cost of heating oil could potentially climb much further as the price of crude oil remains volatile.
Britain has announced it will phase out the import of Russian oil and oil products by the end of the year as part of its sanctions on Moscow for invading Ukraine, the Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced this week.
Market traders are betting on prices rising further yet, particularly on the back of the latest surge.
The Government wants properties in England that are off the mains gas grid to be banned from fitting new oil and liquid gas heating systems by 2026. Households will be expected to install heat pumps instead.
The move would come some nine years earlier than a mooted ban on new gas boilers in urban and suburban homes. The Government said its proposals would affect roughly 1.1 million homes in England.
