Why are gas prices suddenly spiking in Chicago, elsewhere in the Midwest?
Chicago area drivers hitting the road this holiday weekend may have noticed a big change at the pumps just overnight Monday into Tuesday.
The rest of the country is seeing some of the lowest gas prices since Labor Day 2020, after prices tanked early in the COVID-19 pandemic. But in Chicago and much of the rest of the Midwest, the opposite is happening — with gas stations as of Tuesday afternoon posting prices of $4 per gallon for regular unleaded, and more than $5 for premium.
"Four dollars? Yeah, it's crazy. It's a lot," said Chris Carrera of the Little Village neighborhood. "What can you do? You know?"
Mercedes Navia was filling up near her house in the South Loop Tuesday, and had a little sticker shock with the $5.19 per gallon price. She usually plans ahead when it comes to filling up.
"I have family that's like the border of Indiana, so when I go visit them, I fill up my gas," Navia said.
Carrera and Navia are far from the only ones who were surprised Tuesday. Experts said there has been a sudden spike in prices.
"We've seen some of the biggest jumps right here in the Great Lakes," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "In fact, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, all seeing weekly increases, over 25 cents a gallon."
In Elgin on Tuesday, a gallon of regular was $3.59. In Evanston, it was $3.89. In Schaumburg, it was $3.94. At Ida B. Wells Drive and Dearborn Street, it was $4.09.
So what's fueling these spikes?
"A lot of that has to do with the BP outage that we saw last week due to that severe weather that rolled through, partially knocking that refinery offline," said DeHaan.
The BP refinery in question is in Whiting, Indiana, a community that was soaked and flooded by storms a week ago Monday. At the time, CBS Skywatch captured video of the oil sheen on pools of water surrounding cars, closing roads, and halting production — after some communities saw more than six inches of rainfall in 24 hours.
A BP representative said the company does not comment on day-to-day operations, but referred CBS News Chicago to a Monday update stating some roads had reopened, and precautionary containment equipment would be removed.
"Sources tell us that the refinery is now in restart mode," De Haan said. "That is something that usually takes multiple days, especially at a refinery as large as the BP refinery."
De Haan expects prices will drop 5 to 15 cents by Labor Day — something drivers say can't arrive soon enough.
"I can see why people would take the train," Carrera said. "You know, it's a lot."
De Haan said there is also another big change coming to prices. He said we're just a couple weeks away from the transition back to cheaper winter gasoline.
De Haan predicts some areas like Northwest Indiana or Southern Wisconsin could see sub-$3 prices for winter travelers.
