COLUMBUS – Drivers in Ohio and three other Midwestern state experienced a nasty case of sticker shock when prices at the gas pump, which had been trending downward over the summer, suddenly spiked more than 20 cents in one day due to the unexpected partial shutdown of a large Indiana oil refinery.
And industry analysts say the increases could continue.
According to a daily survey by the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc., showed the average retail price of a gallon of gasoline in Columbus jumped 27 cents in one day to $2.79, 36 cents higher than when the work week started.
Drivers in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan saw similar increases. Michigan was hardest-hit: Prices in the Wolverine State jumped 23 cents in one day to $2.81 per gallon, highest in the region.
“You’re definitely going to see the effect at all gas stations around the region,” AAA Ohio spokeswoman Kimberly Schwind told WBNS 10-TV.
She predicted that short term prices at or above $3 a gallon “are not out of the question.”
Wholesale prices on the Chicago spot market increased more than 85 cents since the news broke earlier this week that BP’s Whiting Refinery in northern Indiana had shut down the largest of three crude distillation units Saturday for what the company calls “unscheduled repair work.” The Whiting facility is the Midwest’s largest refinery.
Schwind says the outage could reportedly take a month or so to fix. The BP says the rest of the refinery is operating at reduced production.
In addition to high demand during the summer driving season, there were other factors affecting the fuel supply in the Great Lakes, including a power outage at a Marathon refinery in Catlettsburg, Ky., and scheduled maintenance at Marathon and Phillips 66 facilities in Illinois.
The last time Ohio’s average gas price was at or above $3 a gallon was Oct. 23 and, despite the recent spike, prices in Ohio are 78 cents below what they were last year at this time, when drivers were paying about $3.50 a gallon.