RUMFORD – Now’s the time to start socking spare change away to buy gas this spring and summer.
Maine is just a nickel away from setting an all-time average high for the per gallon price of unleaded gasoline, says AAA Maine Marketing Director Matthew C. McKenzie in Portland.
McKenzie said Tuesday afternoon that Maine’s highest average price of $1.75 per gallon was set in September 2003.
“We’re now on course to surpass that, but whether or not we hit $2 a gallon is hard to say,” he said. “I’d like to think we’re not going to hit $2.”
McKenzie expects that the highest average price could be surpassed as early as next week.
On a similar bent, a new nationwide record gasoline price is expected to be set if gasoline prices move an average of 5.9 cents per gallon higher, he added.
“Today’s national average price for self-serve regular is $1.679 per gallon. While many pundits expect a new record price will happen this year, it remains difficult to know whether this event is now days or weeks away,” McKenzie said.
The nation’s previous record high average gasoline price, which was set last Aug. 30, is $1.737 per gallon, according to the automobile association.
But gas prices this spring won’t be a case of “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”
Instead, McKenzie said, the average price of gasoline in California remains a bellwether for the rest of the nation.
“This is because that state switches to cleaner-burning summer fuels before others do,” he added.
The average price of self-serve regular topped an average of $2 per gallon in California Tuesday.
This year, a crude oil price of $35 per barrel, and low oil inventories of oil in the United States, are compounding the upward pressure on prices.
“It’s just simply economics 101, where you’ve got high demand and low supplies, and, as a result, prices will rise,” he added.
To learn more about Maine gasoline prices, visit AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report at 198.6.95.31/sbsavg.asp and www.mainegasprices.com/
tkarkos@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
