Aug. 15--Regular gas prices in the Chicago area on Friday were up nearly 50 cents from last week to $3.23 per gallon, as the largest refinery in the Midwest continues to work on a crude distillation unit that has been shut down since Saturday.
BP said it does not have an estimate on when the unit, the largest at the Whiting, Ind., oil refinery, will be back online. The refinery can process more than 19 million gallons of refined fuel per day, or enough fuel to run 430,000 cars.
Will Speer, a senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy.com, said the refinery is producing less than half of its normal output. To make matters worse, he added, a Marathon Petroleum refinery in Robinson, Ill., is performing a scheduled maintenance, which means it also cut back on production.
Speer said gas prices could rise 15 to 25 cents more from GasBuddy's current $3.35 per gallon average price.
"There is still room (for prices) to get higher," Speer said.
acancino@tribpub.com
