current maine oil prices/ lock in's?? (Bangor: house, school, live)

[flycessna]

looks like Oil is coming down currently around $91 barrell.. I am considering locking in... I read a report the other day that it could come down to $82 a barrell but I hate playing the timming game..

at $94 the daily price the other day here in auburn was 3.22 a gallon but to lock in would be much more.. guessing around 3.45??

Just curious to see how the other Mainers are playing this??

[7th generation]

I could have locked in last year at $3.29/gal. with an employee discount because I sell their gas, but didn't. By the time March rolled around this year my buttocks were sore from kicking myself. It seemed I worked all winter just to pay for heating oil.

Will the price drop much more before October? Roll the dice and hope it does.

Two years ago heating oil topped out in June at $4.25/gal. As it rose people panicked and pre-purchased, just to watch the price slide through the summer-ouch…..!

[jzinckgra]

Like I mentioned in another post not long ago, the new "low" price/gallon of gas will probably be $3.50 or so. The little reprieve we got mid-summer was a joke and the price/gallon went up to the current price. Now that the per barrel price is hovering around $90 and may drop more, don't expect a big drop in heating oil or pump fuel. These damn oil companies are greedy bastards. I think last year when oil was ~$90, the pump price was ~$2.60. We should be a heck of a lot lower than where we are now. Just doesn't add up.

[dmyankee]

We rejected all three bids for #2, for the school heating last week. This is a difficult call this year.

[bangorme]

I've seen so many friends lose their shirts trying to gamble on locking in oil contracts. And it really is nothing more than gambling. There is not an objective answer to your question.

[shadowfax1997]

For what it's worth....

We pre-bought 600 gallons mid-june at $3.69 with down side protection. First deliver was two weeks ago at $3.41 i think. Delivered 170ish gallons. Down side means we are charged at the $3.41 price and price won't be above $3.69. At time, it looked like prices would sky-rocket, but now I doubt it. My bet if doing it now, save cash and look for bargains during winter. I doubt it will be over what I bought at as I feel we are heading into another recession.

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by shadowfax1997

For what it's worth....

We pre-bought 600 gallons mid-june at $3.69 with down side protection. First deliver was two weeks ago at $3.41 i think. Delivered 170ish gallons. Down side means we are charged at the $3.41 price and price won't be above $3.69. At time, it looked like prices would sky-rocket, but now I doubt it. My bet if doing it now, save cash and look for bargains during winter. I doubt it will be over what I bought at as I feel we are heading into another recession.

The guy I deal with has always been pretty streight with me.. He himself feels no matter what.. oil has to come down.. either it will come down and maybe the economy wont crash or the economy will crash because of the outragous prices and then it will come down..

He says blame it on oil day traders and politicians that don't want to do anything about it..

[bangorme]

Originally Posted by flycessna

The guy I deal with has always been pretty streight with me.. He himself feels no matter what.. oil has to come down.. either it will come down and maybe the economy wont crash or the economy will crash because of the outragous prices and then it will come down..

He says blame it on oil day traders and politicians that don't want to do anything about it..

I think the whole oil industry makes money on each fluctuation. When the price of crude goes up, the next day the price of gas goes up. When the price of oil comes down, over two weeks the price of gas saunters down. That difference put a bunch of money in their pockets.

[mainebrokerman]

shame on us, for putting ourselves in this position, when we could be drilling for our own oil...long ago

the price of oil this winter, like last winter will be between ..... gouged and screwed

[Newdaawn]

It would seem that many that are now going with the Bangor Natural Gas here that it would be a bit of competition for the oil dealers. Remains to be seen I guess. It is being installed on our street an about 40% or the people seem to be hooking in. We decided not to go for it. It would require us to have a new liner for the chimney, and a retro fit for the furnace. There is no reason to believe that it will be fewer dollars spent to heat the house for the winter. It will be interesting to see how people that hooked in like it come spring.