Maine’s heating oil prices have fallen ever so slightly over the past week.
The average price for a gallon of heating oil is now $6.01, down from last week’s record high of $6.05, according to the Maine Department of Energy Resources.
In eastern and Down East Maine, prices range from a low of $5.68 to a high of $6.40.
That statewide average is 79% higher than this time last year, when heating oil went for $3.35 a gallon.
Mainers will now have to spend an additional $731.50 to fill a standard 275-gallon tank.
Energy prices have been climbing globally since February when President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a surprise war against Iran. Although Trump said that the war would last only weeks, it entered its eighth month in late October.
That war effectively halted fuel shipments out of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s natural gas and oil passes, for much of the year. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine also has strained global fuel supplies as both sides have traded blows on each other’s energy infrastructure, and Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have attacked Saudi energy sites and seized territory along the Red Sea coast, another key trade route.
Last month, the Trump administration released about $37 million in low-income heating assistance for Maine. An additional $1.4 million was awarded to the state’s four federally recognized tribes. The administration also is tapping the Northeast heating oil reserves for the first time since 2012 when Hurricane Sandy devastated the northeastern U.S.
About half of Maine households ( more than 300,000) rely on heating oil to stay warm during the winter, and consumption can average 2 to 7 gallons a day, depending on how cold it is outside. That means the 13.2 million gallons flowing from the Northeast stockpile would amount to approximately nine days of consumption at a rate of five gallons a day.
Rising energy costs and anger over the Iran war contributed to heavy losses for Republicans in Tuesday’s midterm elections, including the ousting of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins after three decades representing Maine in Washington.
It’s unclear whether the election results will mean any relief from high oil prices. Trump has mused for weeks about escalating attacks on Iran after the midterms, and the U.S. in recent days has conducted what it calls “defensive strikes” against Iranian targets in the strait.