AUGUSTA – The average price of a gallon of home-heating oil continues to decline, dropping another penny this week to $1.42, according to the State Planning Office.

The average had topped out at $1.56 a gallon in December.

The SPO also reported that the price of propane took a dramatic drop, down 12 cents from last week to $1.68 a gallon. Kerosene was down one penny to an average of $1.71 a gallon.

Heating oil prices ranged from a low of $1.22 a gallon in western sections to as high as $1.54 in eastern areas.

The continued decline in oil prices is do in part to relatively stable inventory supplies in January, which were larger than they were one year ago.