Heating oil prices nudge up, 26 cents higher than in 2011

Home heating oil in Maine inched up two cents in the past week to an average of $3.70 per gallon.

The governor’s Energy Office in Augusta said Tuesday that current prices are 26 cents per gallon higher than at the same time last year.

The lowest prices are in the southwest area of the state where the average is $3.63 per gallon. Prices are highest in the northern reaches of Maine, where prices are at an average of $3.86 per gallon.

The office found heating oil as low as $3.50 per gallon in some areas. The highest price was $3.93.

The statewide kerosene price average is $4.14 per gallon, up four cents from last week.

While prices for natural gas, heating oil and other fuels will be relatively stable this winter, customers will have to use more energy to keep warm than they did a year ago, according to the annual Winter Fuels Outlook from the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration.

Last winter was the warmest on record. This year temperatures are expected to be close to normal.

The EIA has forecast that heating bills will rise 20 percent for heating oil customers, 15 percent for natural gas customers, 13 percent for propane customers and 5 percent for electricity customers.

Wal-Mart expanding small stores to better compete

Wal-Mart is accelerating the expansion of small stores, particularly its Neighborhood Market stores, as it looks to compete with a variety of rivals from dollar stores to drug chains.

“This gives us the opportunity to build more stores for less money,” Bill Simon, president of Wal-Mart’s U.S. division told Wall Street analysts at a meeting near Bentonville, Ark.

Simon said it plans to have 500 Neighborhood Market stores and 12 Express stores by fiscal 2016.

As of the end of July, Wal-Mart had 10 Express stores and had ramped up its Neighborhood Market concept to 217 locations.

Investors cheered the news, sending Wal-Mart’s stock up $1.28 to $75.42 Wednesday.

Stocks down 128 points; worst loss since June

Downbeat reports from Alcoa and Chevron at the start of corporate earnings season pulled stock indexes lower for a third straight day Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average slumped 128 points, its steepest loss since late June.

Alcoa, the aluminum producer, beat Wall Street’s earnings estimates on Tuesday night but said it expects a slowdown in China to weaken demand for aluminum. Its stock fell 42 cents Wednesday to $8.71.

The company is often used as an indicator for the global economy. “And judging by Alcoa’s massive inventory of aluminum, it seems pretty anemic,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank.

Chevron, the country’s second-largest oil company, warned late Tuesday that slumping oil prices and production would cause earnings to be “substantially lower.” It blamed Hurricane Isaac for disrupting production at a Mississippi refinery.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court also refused to block a $19 billion judgment levied against Chevron by an Ecuadorian court for polluting the Amazon. Chevron’s stock sank $4.91 to $112.45.

— From news service reports