After a long period of decline beginning last October, gas prices in Maine are starting to rise again. The average price in Maine over the last week was $2.25 a gallon, up about two-and-a-half cents from the previous week."Still far lower than a year ago," says analyst Patrick DeHahn, of the price-tracking website Gas Buddy. "But prices are starting to inch up, and you can blame that on rising oil prices which stand at their highest level in several months, at about $56 a barrel."
DeHahn says seasonal variation is also to blame, as prices tend to be higher in the spring and summer months during what people in the industry call the "summer driving season."
DeHahn says he expects prices will continue to rise slowly for the next couple months. But he says the Trump administration's sanctions on Venezuela could strongly influence the price of fuel.
"President Trump has sanctioned Venezuela's state-owned oil company, so exports out of Venezuela are drying up," he says, "and that's impacting the global price of oil and causing prices to be a little higher as well."
DeHahn says a trade deal with China could improve the economy and lead to an increase in prices.
