"Vulnerable" households who have been hit by a sharp increase in the price of heating oil will get help from a £53m support package, the prime minister has said.
Support will be "targeted" to help low-income households in rural communities, Sir Keir Starmer said, although local councils will decide who qualifies and how the money is distributed.
Some heating oil customers say their costs have doubled since the outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran and the competition watchdog has launched a probe into "concerning reports".
The UK Fuel Distribution Association (UKFDA) said many suppliers buy fuel at the market price almost daily, which is why the costs have been quickly passed on.
Unlike consumers who use gas and electricity for heating and hot water, prices for households using oil are not capped by regulator Ofgem.
About 1.5 million UK households use heating oil. The issue of rising prices is particularly acute in Northern Ireland, where about 500,000 homes use it, almost two-thirds of all households.
In Great Britain, about 3.6% of households use heating oil — 760,000 in England, 140,000 in Scotland and 110,000 in Wales.
In England, the extra cash will be distributed by local authorities via the Crisis and Resilience Fund, which comes into effect on 1 April, and replaces the temporary Household Support Fund.
The support will go to those at immediate risk of losing hot water, and funding will be given to local authorities in proportion to the number of heating oil users. It will then be up to councils to work out how to distribute the money.
If help is needed before the Crisis and Resilience Fund starts in April, people can apply to local councils for support, but any cash would need to be from existing budgets.
The Local Government Association said that heating oil was already covered in guidance for councils on both the Household Support Fund and the Crisis and Resilience Fund, and that it had not been made aware of any changes to the how they are applied.
In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the money will be allocated directly to the devolved governments, "with the expectation that it will be used to support vulnerable households", the government said.
Northern Ireland will receive £17m, England £27m, Scotland £4.6m and Wales £3.8m.
The First Minister of Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, described the £17m pledge as a "slap in the face".
The Sinn Féin vice-president said the funding "doesn't touch the surface of what is required" for those affected.
The government also said it was "rapidly exploring" ways to bring in new protections for heating oil customers, as the sector is not regulated by Ofgem.
The UK competition regulator has flagged reports of cancelled orders and prices being pushed up.
"If the companies have broken the law, there will be legal action," Sir Keir said.
The PM also said the government would continue to work towards "a swift resolution" of the Middle East conflict "because there is no question ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living".
UKFDA said the main market driver of heating oil price in the UK and Ireland is jet fuel traded on the European market.
Jet fuel has more than doubled in price since the war started because 40% of Europe's jet fuel comes through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway south of Iran which the regime has effectively closed through force.
Denise, from rural Suffolk, has seen the price of oil she uses for water and central heating rise from £275 for 500 litres to £800 since the war in Iran started.
She has stopped turning on hot water and central heating to save money and fears the cost will rise even further. As a 73-year-old on a low income with medical issues, she hopes to be eligible for the support package.
She expects to be eligible for the support package as she has received support before from the government and her local council.
"However, I will have to see what they say when I apply for it on April 1st," she told BBC Your Voice.
Cheryl Diamond, who lives in Ballymoney, County Antrim, with her husband and three children, does not expect that they will qualify for support with their heating oil costs, but hopes her elderly parents will.
She and her husband recently bought 1,000 litres of oil before prices shot up and are now worried it could be stolen.
"It's now so valuable. You really have to make sure that your oil is protected, that it is secure," she told BBC Your Voice.
Reacting to the government's announcement, Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said it wanted to see details of how the support would work and who would qualify.
While talk of stronger regulation was "a very positive step", Francis said "at the moment it sounded more like a signal of intent than a concrete plan".
Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho said that while the support was welcome, "the government must go further".
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey called for VAT on heating oil to be suspended and a price cap implemented. Households using heating oil "deserve the same kinds of protections as those on the grid", he added.
Last week, the price of crude hit nearly $120 a barrel before slipping back. Oil is currently trading at about $102 a barrel, but that is still much higher than where it was before the conflict began.
Prices have spiked mainly due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that carries a fifth of global oil supplies.
For now, household gas and electricity bills in England, Wales and Scotland are protected by the energy cap, which is set by the regulator Ofgem. Under this cap, bills will fall in April.
However, what happens from now until late May on the wholesale energy market will determine what happens to household bills from July. A sustained period of high wholesale costs could mean a sharp increase in energy prices for millions.
The last time there was a particular spike, following Covid and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the government had to step in to help with the Energy Price Guarantee.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC on Sunday that "if it's necessary to intervene, we will" on energy bills. However, he added, any intervention would depend on the scale of the impact from the conflict.
Additional reporting by Emer Moreau and Alex Emery
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