British Petroleum Announces Reopening of Whiting Refinery

By Lily Corral, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University

British Petroleum announced that a crude distillation unit that had been closed at the Whiting, Indiana refinery was back up and running on Tuesday according to a press release.

The shutdown of the unit on Aug. 8 was due to unexpected repairs according to BP and is thought to be a major contributor to Chicago’s high fuel prices. The timeline for repair was unknown; BP did not publicly give a schedule as to when consumers could expect the unit to begin working.

The prices at the pump caused Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to take action.

On Monday, the two government leaders penned a joint letter to BP to seek answers.

Within a day of sending the letter, it was announced by BP that the unit was up and running.

“Restart of this unit is increasing the refinery’s fuel production, with output ramping up over time,” BP said in a statement Tuesday.

The average price for gas Tuesday was $3.54, already down three cents from yesterday’s average price of $3.57 according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The opening of the distillation unit brings hope for a greater decrease in prices.

Mayor Emanuel is optimistic that Chicago drivers will start to feel the relief.

“I am pleased that BP has reopened its Whiting, Ind., plant and look forward to price equity for Chicago motorists as they fill up their gas tanks,” Emanuel said in a statement Tuesday. “The oil companies need to stabilize prices so that they are in line with the low levels throughout the rest of the United States and put processes in place to ensure that a spike of this magnitude does not happen again.”

The Illinois Attorney General’s office echoed a similar sentiment.

“We're hopeful that as the Whiting refinery begins functioning, drivers across Chicagoland will see relief from extremely high gas prices,” Illinois Attorney General Press Secretary Eileen Boyce said in an email response. “We'll continue to monitor gas prices regularly.”

BP declined to comment on when prices at the pump would reflect the crude distillation unit being reopened.

Industry analyst Patrick DeHaan, a Senior Petroleum Analyst for GasBuddy.com’s Midwest region, has seen a change in prices.

“Prices have been going down since the 18th of August,” DeHaan said. “We can expect bigger declines now with the refinery going back up.”

Consumers may choose to wait to fill up their vehicles as prices are expected to decrease daily.

“Prices in Chicago may drop two to five cents every day going forward,” DeHaan said. “We are expecting a 20 to 50 cent drop in price by the conclusion of Labor Day.