(Bloomberg) -- US drivers in the Great Lakes region are paying higher prices at the pump after a tornado took Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Joliet, Illinois, refinery offline.
A tornado hit transmission lines serving the Joliet plant on July 15, forcing a plant-wide emergency shutdown. The incident has driven West Shore CBOB to a 17.5-cent premium over gasoline futures, according to General Index. That’s the biggest premium since November 2022.
Exxon’s Joliet power outage “has driven up prices across the board in the Great Lakes region,” Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy said in an email. “Jet, diesel and gasoline are all higher.” Retail gasoline prices this week are up 26 cents in Michigan, 22 cents in Illinois, 14 cents in Wisconsin, 13 cents in Indiana and 10 cents in Ohio, he said.
Exxon said it’s still assessing damages to the facility and declined to provide a timeline for the restart.
Overall crude prices have fallen this week as broader market weakness and soft demand in China have algorithmic traders dumping their bets. The dip in crude futures will help offset some of the upward pressure on regional gasoline prices, according to Andrew Gross, a spokesperson for AAA.
--With assistance from Lucia Kassai.
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