The Bord Gáis Energy Index dropped by 12% in April mostly on the back of a fall on UK wholesale gas prices following a month of record highs in March.

Britain’s wholesale gas prices surged to a record high yesterday after one of its main import pipelines shut down unexpectedly, exposing yet again its vulnerability to foreign supplies.

The Bord Gáis Energy Index is unchanged in February compared with the previous month, as the global economic recovery stalls and the risk premium on energy prices falls because of lower geo-political concerns.

There was a marginal increase in the cost of energy in January with the Bord Gáis Energy Index increasing by 1% in the first month of the year.

The cost of energy fell over the last month but remains higher than at this time last year due to the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa

Threats to oil supplies as a result of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa are pushing up the cost of energy for Irish households and businesses.

Plans to further strengthen the commercial property sector — through the introduction of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which allow for investors to finance property investment in return for attractive yields and special tax considerations — have been widely welcomed as one of the main positives from yesterday’s budget proposals.

Falling oil prices have curtailed increases to the Bord Gáis Energy Index for October which is still up 8% year-on-year despite a 2% fall in October.

Oil supply anxiety is going to keep energy costs high for the foreseeable future with a strengthening euro the only possible cushion for the Irish consumer against higher petrol, diesel, home heating oil, and gas and electricity prices in the months ahead.

The weakening Euro is just one of the factors pushing up the price of fuel in Ireland.

Consumers will continue to feel the pinch at the pumps as Ireland has recorded its highest rise in oil prices since February.

The Bord Gáis Energy Index of wholesale energy prices rose 8% in July, the biggest monthly increase since Feb 2012, as oil prices rose on supply concerns and expectations of additional economic stimulus measures to battle global weaknesses.

The price of brent crude oil fell by 15% last month, the largest monthly price fall in two years, but the benefit of that will not be passed on at petrol pumps in Ireland.

Consumers are failing to reap the full benefits of falling global energy prices because of the weakness of the euro against the US dollar and sterling, the latest Bord Gáis Energy Index finds.

For the first time in seven months the price of energy has not gone up.

Global oil stabilisation has raised a glimmer of hope motorists may finally see fuel prices coming down at the pumps — or, at least, staying at current levels.

Political uncertainty over developments in Iran was the main driver behind a rise in energy costs last month.

The Bord Gáis Energy Index - which tracks the prices of energy that we consume - recorded a 1% drop for December.

IRISH economic growth in 2012 could be hampered by increasing oil prices — fuelled by US growth and growing tensions in the Middle East — made worse by a weakening euro.

NOTHING stands still: not time, not the ground we stand on, and certainly not a city.

TOUGH measures aimed at taxing property-related expenditure will now be deferred, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said yesterday.

THE Government is proposing a phased reduction in pension-related reliefs and tax breaks over the course of the next four years, in order to raise €700m in savings, something which has already been criticised as paving the way for a wholesale reduction in people making pension contributions in the future.

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A blast that rocked New York injuring at least 50 people was a ‘‘tragic accident’’, authorities said today.