COLUMBUS – Ohio motorists continue to deal with gas prices that have skyrocketed due to a refinery problem, though the average price has declined in the last week.
According to a daily survey from the AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc., the average retail price of gasoline in Columbus Monday morning was $2.65 a gallon, 19 cents less expensive than one week ago, but 22 cents higher than the price on Aug. 10, just as a major BP refinery in Indiana closed for unscheduled maintenance, causing a supply disruption and a spike in wholesale prices.
Driver in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin saw pump prices go up markedly on the heels of news that BP had unexpectedly shutdown the largest of its three crude distillation units at its Whiting, Ind., refinery on Aug. 8 for unscheduled repair work.
The refinery is capable of producing 430,000 barrels of refined product per day, and the shutdown noticeably impacted supply within the region, causing an 85-cent-a-gallon jump in the wholesale price.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that the Midwestern price jump canceled out a price drop in many West Coast cities, leaving the national average price virtually unchanged since Aug. 10.
The AAA says the average price nationwide is $2.60 a gallon, six cents higher than the national average.