Heating oil prices up to $1.35 per gallon

AUGUSTA – The average price of home-heating oil in Maine increased 3 cents this week to $1.35 a gallon, 24 cents more than a year ago.

Prices ranged from $1.24 in central sections of the state to a high of $1.44 a gallon in western areas, the State Planning Office reported Monday.

Kerosene was $1.58 this week, up 3 cents from last week, but propane was down one penny to $1.56.

The strike by oil workers in Venezuela continued to impact markets, prompting U.S. refiners to draw on their inventory supplies to make up for the loss of crude, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

At the end of last week, crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange topped $33 a barrel.

That high price has prompted Saudi Arabia and other Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries members to pledge to fill the void by supplying 500,000 barrels a day starting Jan. 15 if the per-barrel price is still more than $28 a barrel, according to the SPO.