Regulators will review energy customer protections for the approaching winter peak season as the renewed US-Iran conflict sparks further oil and gas price volatility.Crude oil prices surged again in recent days, hovering just below $78 on Thursday, while natural gas, key to Irish electricity prices, climbed about 5 per cent to €49 a megawatt hour, the unit in which it is sold.Both hit their highest level in weeks after US president Donald Trump declared the interim deal to end the war with Iran was over, and the US resumed its air attacks.The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) will shortly begin reviewing protections for vulnerable customers with the energy industry ahead of the winter heating season, a process due to end next month.The commission reviews customer safeguards with the industry each year ahead of the autumn. It takes into account data from suppliers along with charities and support groups such as the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs), St Vincent de Paul and Alone.[ No strait answer as US and Iran are stuck in cycle of strikesOpens in new window ]The CRU confirmed that it “undertakes ongoing regular engagement with suppliers through an industry group in relation to customer and supplier issues that arise on a regular basis”.Commission chairman Fergal Mulligan told Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O’Brien earlier this year that the regulator had “robust discussions” with suppliers as global prices rose sharply following the war’s outbreak in February.The commission confirmed that at the start of the war it “undertook additional engagement with gas and electricity suppliers”, to ensure that customers remained protected.Sustained pressure on supplies linked to the conflict, which pushed oil as high as $126 a barrel, prompted Irish electricity and gas companies to boost domestic charges by 8 to 11 per cent. Those increases will mostly begin to apply from this month.Natural gas is used to generate up to half the electricity used in Ireland, so movements in its price on global markets ultimately feed through to the bills of families and businesses.More than 318,700 homes – one in seven across the State – were behind with their electricity bills at the end of March, figures published by the commission last month showed.[ Oil extends gains as US strikes in Iran rattle marketsOpens in new window ]The amount owed on the average electricity bill in arrears had crept up 4 per cent to €511.09. Gas bill arrears were up 11 per cent at €229.56, the report stated.Those figures pre-dated any increases stemming from the US-Iran war. The initial impact of the higher prices that will kick in this month will not be known until October, when the CRU will publish arrears for July.The rate at which energy suppliers cut customers off remains low, according to industry sources, who say that in many cases, accounts closed by these businesses are dormant.