Heating oil now 82% more expensive than this time last year

The average price for heating oil reached a new high this week at $6.05 a gallon, according to the Maine Department of Energy Resources. 

“Heating oil prices in Maine are now breaking records week after week, putting growing pressure on Maine families as temperatures continue to drop,” Celina Cunningham, acting commissioner of the department, said in a statement. 

The latest peak puts the average cost of heating oil up 82% from this time last year, the department reported. That means it will cost roughly $750 more to fill a standard 275-gallon oil tank. 

Roughly half of Maine households use heating oil as their primary heating source. That number is down from 70% of households in 2010, according to the energy department.

The current peak is up one cent from the previous high of $6.04 set last week — that price surpassed the earlier record set Sept. 21 of $6.02. And prior to that, the record was $5.92 per gallon in 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Energy costs have soared this fall as the war in Iran restricts the flow of diesel and crude oil onto global markets and Russia has implemented an export ban on diesel after Ukrainian attacks on refineries. 

The latest price increases come after the U.S. Department of Energy last week announced it will release 315,000 barrels of heating oil from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, roughly a third of its supply, to help reduce the price of heating oil.