AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 10/30/20

National Average Price for Regular Unleaded Current: $3.042; Month Ago: $2.878; Year Ago: $1.926. National Average Price for Diesel Current: $3.176; Month Ago: $3.079; Year Ago: $2.412.

Last month, U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced a $7.89 Million grant for a project to improve rail infrastructure in Northeastern Maine. NBM Rail Services has been awarded the contract to repair and upgrade 22 rail bridges on the Madawaska Subdivision of the Maine Northern Railway. Fourteen bridges will require minor repairs, three bridges require superstructure replacements, and one bridge will be replaced completely. The funding, through the FASTLANE grant program, will help create jobs, improve competitiveness and provide an economic boost for the State of Maine. Following project completion, the 151-mile section will be capable of carrying 286,000 pounds of rail car weight. “This major rail link is used daily by manufacturers and customers across our state, and these improvements will significantly increase capacity and efficiency throughout the corridor,” said Senator Collins, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Motor fuel prices fell 0.7 percent in New York, while crude futures slipped from the lowest closing level in five weeks. Valero Energy Corp. and Citgo Petroleum Corp. were said to be preparing to restart their refineries in Corpus Christi after Harvey moved through over the weekend. The storm, which made landfall on Friday, is poised to regain strength before crashing ashore again near the Texas-Louisiana border on Wednesday. “It is a question of the market reassessing the risk to refineries while also concluding we are past the peak season in terms of demand,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “We are seasonally heading towards a lower demand period which means that any signs of things beginning to normalize could have quite a negative impact on prices.” Click Read More below for additional detail.