Statewide heating oil prices fell another 3 cents on average over the past week. Kerosene fell by a penny and propane dropped 2 cents.
The figures come from the state’s Office of Energy Independence and Security, which surveys dealers weekly during the heating season.
While the prices declined across the board, they still remain high when compared with a year ago.
No. 2, the fuel that heats about 80 percent of Maine’s homes, is retailing at a 34-cent premium when compared with this week last year. Kerosene is 50 cents higher, while propane is averaging 18 cents more per gallon.
The price of the commodities spiked in September in the wake of Hurricane Katrina-caused damage to oil-related production facilities in the Gulf Coast. Prices have been dropping as facilities elsewhere ratcheted up production and imports rose to offset U.S. losses.
The OEIS, in announcing this week’s survey findings, noted that more than a half-million barrels per day of U.S. offshore crude remains shut-in and may stay that way into mid-2006.
Imports, however, are keeping heating oil and propane inventories strong along the East Coast.
Gasoline prices are another issue. After declining from all-time highs in September, gasoline seemed to bottom out last week around $2.05 per gallon in much of central and western Maine.
A spike in crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange this week in anticipation of an East Coast snowstorm has pushed prices back up to the $2.10 to $2.20 range.
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