LEWISTON – Local municipal financial officials figured they were zeroing in on a good oil price late last week.

Officials from the Lewiston and Auburn cities and schools, Androscoggin County and the towns of Poland and Minot have been watching the oil market, trying to lock in a good price for next winter’s heating oil. Between heating offices, schools and shops, the consortium is hoping to purchase 1.1 million gallons of oil.

“We were all getting excited last week when the oil prices started dropping,” said Norm Beauparlant, Lewiston’s director of budget and purchasing. The group has been keeping a close watch on the New York Mercantile Exchange, waiting to resubmit their request for bids to local oil dealers.

“On Thursday, it got down to $121 per barrel and the analysts were suggesting it could go down even more, below $120,” Beauparlant said. “Then, we woke up Friday morning and it had shot up to $139. It hit a new peak.”

And so the members of the oil cooperative will keep watching and waiting for their opportunity.

The group had good luck last year, locking in a $1.95 per gallon price. That purchased oil from October 2007 through September. The year before, they locked at $2.36 per gallon, only to see prices drop to $2 over the winter.

“There’s just no telling what’s going to happen,” Beauparlant said. “That’s the wild part of this. It’s really difficult to look at any given moment and know it’s the right time.”

The consortium turned down one bid last month, for $4.37 per gallon. That bid came back in tandem with the city of Auburn’s effort to lock in a price for 597 of its residents. The residential bid came in it at $4.71 per gallon – about 33 cents higher than the residential market rate at the time.

Beauparlant said he still thinks the municipal bid can do better. He calculates that Monday, with the price of oil at $137 per barrel, the cities could have locked in a price of $4.20 per gallon.

“We’re in a holding pattern, and we’re watching it daily,” he said. “Frankly, it could bottom out as quickly as it went up. That’s what we’re trying to do, get a price we can be happy with throughout the year.”