Joliet Refinery Outage Triggers Regional Gas Price Spike

A total power failure at ExxonMobil’s Joliet, Illinois refinery forced the plant—normally processing about 275,000 barrels of crude oil per day and supplying roughly 6 percent of Midwest refining capacity—to shut down early this week. The outage immediately reduced regional fuel supplies, prompting wholesale gasoline and diesel prices to climb sharply in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Newsweek

Gas prices have been rising nationwide as crude oil breached $100 per barrel. Analysts link the surge to multiple geopolitical pressures, including heightened U.S.–Iran tensions, new hostilities in the Red Sea, and the shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline. Additional attacks on Russian refineries have further tightened global refined-product supplies, limiting any seasonal relief that might have come from the transition to cheaper winter-blend gasoline.

Newsweek

• National average gasoline price: $4.25 per gallon, up 17.2 cents from the previous week (GasBuddy).

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• Joliet refinery’s share: about 6 percent of Midwest capacity.

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• State averages (early September): California $5.81, Washington $5.48, Hawaii $5.42, Oregon $5.00 (Choose Energy/AAA).

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• Recent regional gains: Oregon gasoline price rose 7.2 percent, Washington 6.9 percent since early August (Choose Energy data).

Newsweek

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, warned that the Joliet shutdown would push gasoline and diesel prices higher “very soon” in the affected Midwest states and noted that broader geopolitical tensions are amplifying the price impact. Alex Beene, a financial-literacy instructor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, said the ongoing military conflict in Iran continues to pressure oil markets, limiting the expected seasonal price relief. Kevin Thompson, CEO of 9i Capital Group, highlighted the Great Lakes region’s historic vulnerability to refinery disruptions and cautioned that multiple overseas issues are likely to keep prices elevated. Michael Ryan, finance expert and founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, explained that while crude supplies remain ample, the inability to process that crude into finished fuel quickly tightens market inventories, driving pump prices upward.

Newsweek

• “In response to yesterday afternoon’s surge in wholesale gasoline and diesel prices related to the Joliet refinery losing power, we are likely to see gas prices and diesel move higher *very* soon in: IL, IN, OH, WI. Michigan may miss it as it already saw a jump yesterday,” — De Haan

Newsweek

• “Average gasoline and diesel prices rose in every state over the last week as geopolitical tensions escalated on multiple fronts, with friction between the U.S. and Iran, new hostilities in the Red Sea, and the shutdown of Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline all combining to jolt prices sharply higher,” — De Haan

Newsweek