Unseasonably warm weather and global energy trends have combined to push down heating oil prices again this week, to levels not seen in more than 10 years.

The statewide average price for home heating oil fell a nickel since last week, to $1.92 a gallon, according to the latest survey from the Governor’s Energy Office. Kerosene was down 6 cents, to $2.50. Propane for heating rose a penny, to $2.21 a gallon.

The lack of cold, winter-like weather in the Northeast is a big factor. Portland’s heating degree days, a metric for measuring the demand for heat in a home, are 20 percent below average through mid-December, the energy office reported. Bangor’s degree days are down 10 percent from the average.

At the same time, crude oil prices have been falling since last month and have hovered in the $37-a-barrel range recently.

In the survey, the energy office found heating oil prices across Maine as low as $1.60 a gallon and as high as $2.19.


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