Midwest Gas Prices Surge Amid Refinery Outages and Flooding

Gas prices in Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin spiked by as much as 27 cents this week, driven by regional refinery disruptions and severe weather. The Whiting facility, BP's 435,000-barrel-per-day refinery, remains partially offline after heavy rainfall and flooding crippled operations. Compounding the issue, Marathon Petroleum's Canton plant is undergoing scheduled maintenance, removing another 100,000 barrels per day from the Midwest's supply chain.

AAA data reveals the crisis is hyper-localized—national prices ROSE just 2 cents. With Labor Day travel demand looming, analysts warn the supply crunch could persist until mid-September. BP restarted one processing unit at Whiting, but the system lacks slack to offset the dual outages. Regional drivers now face a perfect storm of tightened inventories and seasonal demand pressures.