Gas prices surge after major refinery goes offline

COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The average price for a gallon of gas in Michigan soared to $4.79 per gallon today, the highest level since June of 2022 when prices peaked at a record high of $5.22 per gallon.  According to Gas Buddy todays jump was due to a major refinery in NW Indiana going offline unexpectedly.

A power interruption at the BP Whiting refinery, the largest refinery serving the Great Lakes region, forced the facility offline and reduced gasoline output that normally supplies parts of Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.

GasBuddy’s analysis says the outage has already pushed wholesale gasoline prices higher and is contributing to the alarming retail prices that spiked to $3.79 per gallon on Wednesday in Branch County.

Wholesale gasoline spikes in the region have been large enough that forecasters warned prices in parts of Michigan could jump by as much as 40–80 cents per gallon in a short window, a level that would represent one of the steepest single-day moves this spring.

Local retailers and drivers are already feeling the effect: some stations have begun to cycle prices upward as they respond to higher replacement costs, while others are waiting to see if the refinery can restart and ease supply pressure.

BP has been working to bring units back online and conduct safety checks after the outage, but industry sources say the duration of the disruption will determine how far and how long prices rise across the Great Lakes market. GasBuddy’s data and regional reporting indicate the outage is a primary near-term driver of the price movement, though broader factors such as crude oil markets and other refinery maintenance schedules also play a role.

Drivers in Branch County are advised to monitor local price-tracking tools and expect short-term volatility at the pump while the Whiting facility stabilizes operations; if the refinery returns to full capacity quickly, analysts say prices could moderate within days, but a prolonged outage would sustain higher prices across the region.