In a year of continual crisis, Mainers can be extremely thankful for the one anticipated crisis that did not develop.

Heating oil, widely predicted last summer to top $5 a gallon by winter, is selling for about half that price now.

Mainers are not only paying less than they did last year, but less than they did two years ago.

Consider it a bullet dodged, thanks to the sinking global economy and fluctuations in world currency values.

In a state heavily dependent on heating oil to survive, many feared that Mainers already living on the margin could have endured real suffering this winter as temperatures plunged and oil prices skyrocketed.

As a result of the anticipated crisis, Maine actually received extra heating assistance from the federal government, which is now being distributed to consumers in need.

But the good news shouldn’t make us too comfortable. As the surge in prices showed, Maine is even more vulnerable than most states to world and foreign events that are completely out of our control.

An attack on a Saudi oil refinery or shipping facility, or even the resurgence of the global economy, could drive the price of oil and gasoline beyond the prices we saw last summer.

In a state where the pickup truck is the best-selling vehicle, where people often commute long distances to work and heat with oil, we are sadly at the mercy of the forces of global supply and demand.

Necessity is, of course, the mother of invention. As the crisis developed last summer, Mainers drove less, found ways to carpool, took more advantage of the meager public transportation that is available, bought wood stoves and explored alternatives like wind, solar and geotheral heat.

It is widely thought that the current record plunge in prices is temporary, and that it will again be on the rise as the economy improves.

Mainers would be wise to continue thinking about how they diversify their heating sources, switch to alternative sources of energy and, perhaps best of all, find smart ways to consume less energy.