Gas prices could spike in several states, including Illinois, and it’s being blamed on a problem at a refinery in Indiana.
An important piece of equipment, used to distill more than half of the facility’s crude oil, broke down and was shut down at the BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana on Saturday, August 8, 2015.
That has forced the facility to operate at less than half of its normal capacity, and it could take nearly two weeks to fix the problem. The unit normally distills 250,000 barrels per day, according to the Northwest Indiana Times.
Not everyone agrees with the explanation putting the Indiana facility at the heart of the price hike.
Before the Indiana incident, reserve gasoline inventories were at their lowest levels of the year, according to GasBuddy.com, and demand for gasoline was at its highest level since August 2007. Because the repairs to the Indiana facility will also be costly, it could affect prices for more than just a few days or weeks, the report said.
Wholesale gas prices in Chicago reportedly jumped 82.5 cents per gallon in Chicago in the days following the incident, and gas prices in northern Indiana were also reportedly up more than 40 cents per gallon.
Gas prices were expected to spike in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.