The latest state survey of heating fuel prices has positives and negatives depending on how long a view you want to take of the issue. Tami Foster tracks the prices for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. She says warmer temperatures have decreased demand which leads to an increase in supply during a time when supplies typically go down. Foster says increased supplies led to the cost of heating oil, propane and natural gas going down. Natural gas dropped the most, four-dollars-and-60 cents — but the drop for the other fuels was much less.
Foster says the drops for heating oil and propane have only been about a penny — but she says there’s reason to celebrate as the cost could have gone up with colder temperatures. And while you’ve save a little in the short-term, Foster says the long-term is the thing to keep and eye on. She says even though the prices are going down, they are still significantly higher than last year.
Foster says though to look at the positive, the Department of Energy predicted this week that fuel prices would be up 23-percent this season. That compares to earlier estimates that project as much as a 50-percent increase.
As for gas prices, Foster says the fuel for our cars isn’t making much movement in price. She says the price of a gallon is averaging around two-dollars-ten-cents a gallon as the market is holding steady as people watch what happens in Nigeria and Iran. The gas price was two cents more than last month. Diesel prices dropped three cents form last month to an average of two-dollars-45-cents a gallon.