U.S. taps heating oil reserve to ease Northeast costs

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Wednesday it will release one-third of the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve as consumer prices in the region for the winter fuel hovered at historic highs amid continuing global supply disruptions.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said about one-third of the approximately 1-million-barrel emergency heating oil reserve will be loaned — with repayments due within a year — as a "temporary measure to solve a temporary supply disruption."

The national retail average price of home heating oil peaked near $6.14 a gallon on Monday, with consumers in Maine paying about $6.30 while in New York the average costs rose to about $6.50 for a gallon.

The administration's directive follows bipartisan pressure from Maine's congressional delegation, led by Republican Sen. Susan Collins and independent Sen. Angus King. The two lawmakers sent a letter to President Donald Trump in September urging him to tap the regional emergency stockpile as energy costs rose across New England.

"I am pleased that the Administration has acted upon our request and will release up to 315,000 barrels of heating oil from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve,” Collins posted on X. “This release — a 13 percent supply increase for New England — will put downward pressure on home heating oil costs and make a real difference for Mainers as they prepare for winter.”

Maine relies more heavily on home heating oil than any other state in the nation, with approximately half of its households dependent on the distillate fuel to get through the winter.

Troy Jackson, the Democratic Senate candidate challenging Collins, called the loan “a short-term band-aid” and said the Trump administration’s move is a calculated campaign tactic just two weeks before the election.

“Susan Collins is taking a victory lap over what Trump’s own energy secretary calls a 'temporary measure' to address the crisis she helped create. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Susan Collins is like an arsonist who sets the house on fire and then wants credit for bringing you a cup of water," Jackson said Wednesday in a campaign video.

The RealClearPolling average places Jackson up 1.6 percentage points over Collins.

The last emergency release of the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve occurred in 2012 when President Barack Obama directed that 120,000 barrels of the stockpile go to the Department of Defense for relief efforts after Hurricane Sandy.

Wholesale prices for heating oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 3.4% to $4.82 a gallon on Wednesday afternoon as traders began accounting for increased regional supply. Patrick Woodcock, president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and former director of the Maine Governor's Energy Office, said the emergency heating oil release will replenish a "very tight reserve system here in New England."