After declining since October, gas prices in Maine have started to head up.
The current statewide average is $2.35 gallon, up 8 cents from a week ago. That’s about 5 cents less than the national average.
GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan says the relatively large increases, especially in the Northeast, are due to refinery outages, including one stemming from a refinery fire in Delaware several weeks ago.
“Kind of a tail of both planned maintenance happening at the same time some unexpected outages have occurred and that pushed up wholesale prices, especially in the Northeast,” he says. “That maintenance that is beginning is generally something that lasts through usually April or May. So gas prices may be quite some time off from peaking.”
DeHaan says gas prices could continue to go up for the next 6-10 weeks, with increases of 20-40 cents a gallon or more. He expects that, by Memorial Day, prices could near $3 a gallon.
