PORTLAND, Maine — The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Maine fell by four cents in the past week, outpacing a three-cent drop in the national average price.
The price tracking site GasBuddy.com and tracking by AAA indicated the Maine average fell to $2.71 per gallon Sunday, with the lowest price in the state at $2.45 per gallon on Monday morning. Maine was one of 43 states where the average price of a gallon of gas dropped in the last week.
The national average price fell to $2.73 per gallon, down three cents from a week ago and 79 cents from a year ago.
The price in Maine is about 93.6 cents per gallon lower than one year ago, when prices started taking a nosedive to a low state average of $2.24 per gallon, dropping below $2 at some stations.
The price decrease last year was attributed to competition between North American and Mideast oil producers who did not back down production heading into the end of 2014.
Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said trends this summer in crude oil prices could signal another dip at year’s end.
“For now, it would appear that the latter half of the summer will bring cheaper gas prices than the first half while this autumn is shaping up to give this past winter a run for its money in terms of cheap gas prices,” DeHaan said in a news release.