PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s average price for a gallon of regular gasoline rose again in the past week, hitting $2.21 per gallon Sunday as warming weather and lower prices than during recent spring travel seasons led to higher demand for the fuel this spring.
The price tracking site GasBuddy reported the price in Maine increase a little more than two cents in the past week, on par with the average increase nationally. The national average remained lower than Maine, however, at $2.14 per gallon.
GasBuddy reported that the average price of gasoline rose in 43 states in the past week.
“Low prices have ignited the early demand surge this year, and the surge is expected to continue into the summer, where demand hits its peak for the year,” Will Speer, a senior analyst at GasBuddy, said in a news release.
Speer said the failure to reach agreement on production cutbacks last week by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has tempered the price impact of rising consumer demand.
Speer said information from the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicated that demand so far this year is up more than 3 percent from 2015 and more than 7 percent from 2014, according to estimates of total gasoline supplied.
The average closing price the last week in Maine was about 30 cents lower than one year ago and 20 cents higher than one month ago. The average in Vermont rose to the same level, at $2.21 per gallon, while the New Hampshire average rose about two cents, to $2.11.