Heating oil shed another 2 cents from its per gallon cash price this week, falling to a statewide average of $1.96 Monday.

That’s still 66 cents more than No. 2 was selling for a year ago, but it’s a nickel cheaper than it was just two weeks ago.

Kerosene, meanwhile, also fell by 2 cents to a statewide average of $2.24. That’s a 6-cent decline in two weeks, but 72 cents higher than last year at this time.

The figures are from the State Planning Office, which surveys dealers around Maine each week during the October-to-March heating season.

In reviewing survey numbers, the office cited a 26-cent disparity in prices for No. 2 between southern and northeastern Maine. The low – $1.80 – was offered by a dealer serving the greater Portland area. The high, $2.06, was found in some smaller Down East communities.

The SPO survey found that the price of propane when purchased in bulk was unchanged from last week at $2.01 per gallon, or 43 cents higher than a year ago.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, cited the state’s high heating costs in calling on Congress to increase funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Snowe wants another $1.4 billion put into the fund, boosting it to $3.4 billion.

“Congress must act now to help those who will suffer most from a long, cold winter and skyrocketing heating oil prices,” Snowe said. “For our most vulnerable citizens, this is an untenable situation. They need relief.”

She’s also pressuring the Bush administration to have Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham convene a summit to deal with heating oil as a public policy to develop proactive strategies and anticipate future problems.

Falling heating fuel prices over the past two weeks are mirroring crude oil orders.

On Monday, crude oil for December delivery fell another 42 cents per barrel to $46.90 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s a two-month low. In October, crude set a record high at just over $55 per 42-gallon barrel.

The outlook for lower oil prices was seen as improving due to several factors.

Last week’s death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat could help drive prices down, since his successors could be more predisposed to a Mideast peace proposal.

Meanwhile, unions that had threatened labor actions against the oil industry in Nigeria agreed Monday to suspend their actions. Nigeria is the world’s No. 7 oil exporter.

At the same time, OPEC members are continuing to pump and ship oil at a fever pitch in an effort to keep up with the growing global demand.