Expert: Indiana gas stations could raise prices after BP refinery shutdown
WHITING, Ind. (WISH and AP) — An oil and refined products analyst says Hoosier travelers could gas prices increases Friday night.
The price hike comes after BP’s sprawling oil refinery in Whiting in northwest Indiana had an outage that on Thursday prompted the company to temporarily shut down the complex and evacuate workers. The outage has since ended, BP said Friday.
Patrick De Haan, an analyst with GasBuddy, said Friday afternoon on X that Chicago spot gas prices showed the highest levels since November, primarily due to the Whiting outage.
De Haan added that has stations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan will see another increase in their prices Friday night, putting more pressure to raise the cost for their customers.
BP spokesperson Christina Audisho said in a statement that power was back on Friday at the refinery following Thursday’s outage, and the refinery’s office buildings and nearby roads had reopened. She said that “operations have been stabilized at the refinery.” But Audisho did not immediately reply to an email from The Associated Press asking for BP to elaborate on the situation at the refinery, including whether refining had resumed and if the outage’s cause had been determined.
Audisho said all refinery staff were accounted for and no injuries were reported following the outage at the refinery, located along Lake Michigan about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Chicago.
The city of Whiting said Thursday that the refinery was flaring its stacks in response to the outage “to burn off the extra product” in what was described as a “normal process” following such an event.
Audisho said in Friday’s statement that air monitoring continues around the refinery “and no elevated readings have been recorded.”
The city of Whiting said air monitoring conducted at multiple location by both BP and Lake County had determined that “there was no danger to the public.”
The refinery is the biggest in the U.S. Midwest and sixth-largest nationally, processing about 440,000 barrels of crude oil daily, making a variety of liquid fuels and asphalt.
News 8’s Gregg Montgomery contributed to this report.