PORTLAND, Maine — The average price of a gallon of regular gas rose about 9 cents in the past week, to put the statewide average back above $2 per gallon.
The national price rose about 6 cents per gallon during the past week. As of Monday morning, the average national and Maine price for a regular gallon of gasoline landed at $2.04, according to the price tracking website GasBuddy.
For the state, that average price is about 33 cents lower than one year ago.
Patrick DeHaan, a senior analyst for GasBuddy, said the price increase is driven by refinery maintenance costs and a drop in gasoline reserves.
“Until the bulk of refinery maintenance season wraps up in late May, we likely won’t see the lower oil prices immediately bring relief to the pump as oil and gasoline inventories continue to move in the opposite direction,” DeHaan said, noting that crude oil inventories rose while gasoline reserves fell.
For the time being, he said, that means a continuing increase in gasoline prices, despite crude oil prices having dropped again last week, to below $40 per barrel.
Maine’s average price per gallon was higher than New Hampshire’s, at $1.96, and lower than Vermont’s, at $2.05.