Gas prices on the rise after storms knock out power at Joliet refinery
JOLIET, Ill. — One of the 19 tornadoes that touched down Monday in the Chicagoland area narrowly missed an Exxon-Mobil refinery in Joliet, but the storms were still strong enough to knock out power at the plant, leading to a spike in gas prices that could continue to rise if power isn’t restored, according to one expert.
Patrick De Haan, an oil and refined products analyst with GasBuddy, went out to survey the Joliet refinery after the storms passed.
“It didn’t look like anything was moving,” De Haan said. “No steam, no cooling. There were a lot of emergency generators outside so, that facility is not producing any gasoline, diesel or jet fuel.”
And since the plant isn’t producing any fuel, gas prices in the area have already began to soar. De Haan said at the Meijer Gas Station off Wolf Road in Mokena, just today alone, prices have jumped from $3.94 to $4.29 a gallon.
The oil expert said he anticipates prices will only continue to increase if there are further delays in production returning to normal at the Exxon-Mobil refinery.
“It really is contingent. If that refinery is not able to get online in the next few days, there could be more of an impact down the road,” De Haan said. “There aren’t an infinite amount of refineries in this country.”
For more information on gas prices in your area, check out GasBuddy’s Illinois price tracker online: https://www.gasbuddy.com/gasprices/illinois
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