Prices for heating oil across Maine have at last begun to stabilize, according to the latest state data."They're still 16 per cent higher than they were last season," says state senior planner Lisa Smith. "Let's hope they don't go up any more."
Smith, who is with the Governor's Energy Office, says the last few months saw some of the highest crude prices in four years - and worrisome heating bills for Mainers, largely due to anxiety over potential shortages that might arise following sanctions being imposed on Iran.
"There was an awful lot of speculation in global oil markets, and unfortunately all that speculation affects the prices that Mainers pay every day," Smith says. "That speculation seems to have settled down for the time being."
Anxieties have eased, in part because of an agreement to step up production in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries - or OPEC - as well as in Russia, which is not an OPEC member.
The current statewide average cash price for No. 2 heating oil is $3.02 per gallon - the same as a week ago.Kerosene is a penny higher at $3.62 per gallon.
Propane prices, however, continue to creep upward, and are currently 4 cents higher than in mid-October; Smith says propane inventories throughout the Northeast appear to be at a five-year low, leading to issues with supply and demand.
