COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) While national gas prices have hit their lowest point since April 2021, a recent refinery fire in Indiana has caused Michigan and other states to miss out on the savings.
According to the AAA on Monday Michigan’s average gas price was $2.79 per gallon, a 13-cent drop from the previous week.
Some stations in Branch County were selling regular unleaded for as low as $2.59 on Monday morning but those prices began rising to $3.29 per gallon by Monday afternoon.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, attributes this surge to a fire last week at the BP oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana, which also affected prices in Ohio, Indiana, and parts of Wisconsin.
The incident drove the wholesale price of gas up by 25- cents per gallon.
De Haan says that the decades-old BP refinery is a critical piece of infrastructure and that its partial shutdown following the fire has created regional supply issues.
He anticipates that prices will gradually drop back below $3 per gallon within a couple of weeks, provided no further incidents occur.
De Haan says he expects gas prices to settle between $2.40 and $2.80 per gallon through early 2026.
However, the analyst does not believe Michigan will see $2 per gallon gas again, citing higher gas taxes and increased labor costs for fuel businesses as primary reasons. The situation highlights the fragility of regional fuel markets, which can be easily disrupted by unforeseen events at key facilities.
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