Prices climb for heating oil users fighting off Maine’s spring chills. (pablo.sanchez via flickr.com)

The heating season is winding down, but that hasn’t translated into lower prices for heating oil consumers in Maine, where the heating season can last longer than in other parts of the country. Heating oil prices in Maine increased by four cents last week, the Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security (OEIS) told the AP.

While Maine’s heating oil users were hit by the recent climb in the price of crude and heating oil on the NYMEX, the slight dip in heating oil futures on Thursday and Friday “wasn’t enough for consumers to notice a difference in this week’s retail prices,” said John Kerry, the director of the OEIS.

Spring is here but, in Maine and elsewhere, it’s still the heating season. (image: reemac640 via flickr.com)

As spring arrived in Maine, the state’s residents got only a small break on their home heating oil prices. John Kerry of the Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security told the AP on Monday that the average price was $2.68 a gallon, one cent less than the average price last week. The disparity between prices in the northern and the southern regions of the state remained, with residents of northern Maine paying as much as 50 cents more than their southern counterparts.

Kerry advised Mainers that weatherization and other efforts at energy conservation should be part of their spring cleaning.

Nubble Light House, Maine. (image: ryanbogosta via flickr.com)

Last week’s statewide survey of heating oil prices showed that the average price of heating oil in Maine rose by a penny. The average retail price for heating oil in the state is now $2.67 a gallon, the same as it was on January 20th, when it exhibited its first decline since early December. Heating oil prices have remained stable for the past few weeks. Now, actual prices fall within a range of $2.36-2.85 a gallon, with the higher prices coming from the east and lower prices from the southwest. Surveys are conducted by the Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security on a weekly basis.

Downtown Portland, ME, where mild weather has brought down heating oil prices. (image: hellomotor.files.wordpress.com)

Maine energy officials reported yesterday that the price of heating oil fell last week, marking the first price drop since early December. According to the Office of Energy Independence and Security, the average price of heating oil fell to $2.67 a gallon, about a penny per gallon less than last week.

No doubt Mainers have warmer weather to thank for the reduced oil prices. The past week has been noticeably mild—Portland enjoyed temperatures in the mid-30s yesterday—after a prolonged cold spell drove up heating-oil prices in early January. As usual, prices were lowest in southern Maine and highest in the northern regions of the state.

Those readers keeping score at home will recall that heating-oil prices in Maine have been steadily increasing for at least four weeks. Not long ago, the price for heating oil hit $2.77 a gallon, which Office of Energy Independence and Security Director John Kerry attributed to colder weather and an improving economy in Asia. As long as global economic conditions don’t cool precipitously, Mainers—like other heating oil customers in the Northeast—might expect prices to remain above $2.60 per gallon, no matter how warm the weather.

(image: mcburnieoil.com)

WGME 13 in Maine reported Tuesday that heating oil prices in the state rose for the fourth week in a row during the week ending January 8. According to The Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security, the average price for No. 2 heating oil is currently $2.77 per gallon, up 10 cents from the previous week. Director John Kerry attributed the ascent in prices to a strengthening economy in Asia.

(image: meteorologynews.com)

The average price of home heating oil in Maine has gone up two cents over the past week, reports the Nashua Telegraph. According to the Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security’s weekly survey, the average price for heating oil in the state is now $2.57 a gallon. Prices are remaining stable because of adequate inventories of crude oil and a relatively mild winter so far, which has avoided extremely cold temperatures, says Director John Kerry.

Around the state, northern Maine has the highest heating oil prices at $2.80 while southwestern Maine has the lowest price at $2.28 per gallon.