Indiana's BP Refinery restarts following severe flooding

IIR, a monitor of the industry, said that BP's Whiting refinery, which produces 440,000 barrels per day, is in the process to restart after flooding disrupted operations earlier in the week. The units will take several days for them to ramp up, IIR added.

IIR stated that the facility will be running at full capacity by early next week.

The refinery reported that it was experiencing flaring as a result of flooding from a severe storm.

BP posted on social media on Wednesday that materials will be burnt in flares to maintain safety operations. The company added that teams from the response and operations have been at the site since Monday night.

BP refused to comment on the timeline for restarting the refinery.

Whiting, the largest refinery in the U.S. Midwest region, produces gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel.

Patrick De Haan said that GasBuddy's head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan in a Wednesday social media post, predicted that retail gasoline prices in the Great Lakes area, including Michigan, Indiana Ohio, Wisconsin, and Illinois, would likely rise by 15 to 30 cents per gallon as a result of disruptions at the Whiting Refinery. Prices in Chicago could also increase 20 to 50%, he added. (Reporting and editing by Chris Reese, Sandra Maler, and Nicole Jao from New York)

(source: Reuters)