Homeowners who filled their tanks with home heating oil this week paid an average 16 cents more per gallon than they did this time last year, according to state figures.

The statewide average price for a gallon of #2 heating oil was $3.764 on Monday, according to Susan Thorne, administrator of the energy program at the state Office of Energy and Planning. This compares to $3.604 per gallon on Oct. 1, 2011, and $3.399 per gallon on Oct. 1, 2008, she said Tuesday.

The first of October can be an indicator of how #2 home heating fuel costs will trend during the winter since they show prices when they are on the rise in anticipation of the heating season, Thorne explained.

“I have seen predictions that they expect it to stay pretty flat and we hope that remains true,” she added.

For low-income residents who turn to the New Hampshire Fuel Assistance Program to help heat their homes, higher heating oil prices likely would mean their basic benefit — which averages about $730 per household — would not stretch as far.

“The fuel prices, as they are right now, are high,” said Celeste Lovett, who manages the state's fuel assistance program at the Office of Energy and Planning.

“A fuel assistance benefit of an average of $730 will only pay for maybe 200 gallons of fuel. If that price goes higher, then they would get less fuel for that amount of their benefit,” Lovett said.

The average New Hampshire household uses about 800 gallons of heating oil a year, Lovett said.

New Hampshire has yet to learn how much it will receive in fuel assistance for the fiscal year that began Monday, Lovett said. But the federal government passed a continuing resolution last week indicating the state would get about the same as the $26 million it received last year, she added.

“We don't know what our funding level is right now. But, if people think they are going to have trouble paying for their fuel, they should contact their local community action agency to determine if they are eligible,” Lovett said.

Residents may dial 211 to contact the New Hampshire Information line for information about their local community action center.

The government provided fuel assistance benefits to 38,021 households during 2011-2012 when statewide prices averaged at $3.78 per gallon for the season, Lovett said.

The state provided a benefit to 45,252 homes during the 2010-2011 heating season, when the state received $35.9 million in fuel assistance, she said.

Deep Discount Heating Oil Corp. in Manchester is selling home heating oil at $3.57 a gallon, a price co-owner Mark Mercier described as high for this time of year, when there appears to be plenty of supply and demand has not peaked.

“This is considerably higher than it should be in a normal year” when prices generally range from $3.39 to $3.49 per gallon, said Mercier, who has been in the oil business more than 20 years.

“Even if it were to level off now, that is still exceptionally high coming off the end of September,” he said.

Mercier and state energy administrator Thorne said multiple variables affect fuel prices — from terrorist attacks shaking up overseas fuel production to natural disasters reducing domestic supply.

kmarchocki@unionleader.com