--- title: Drivers Outraged as Gas Prices Soar While Oil Prices Plummet description: A British Petroleum oil refinery outage in Illinois is being blamed for gas price spikes throughout the Midwest, with some stations increasing prices 40 or 50 cents overnight. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2015-08-14T15:57:21.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T06:31:32.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - Autos - Crude Oil - energy - Gas - Gas prices - Oil word_count: 351 canonical: https://money.com/gas-prices-midwest-oil-prices/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![paying for gas](https://img.money.com/2015/08/150814_em_gassoar.jpg) Earlier this week, analysts proclaimed that $2 gas would be common once again around the U.S. Global oil prices are cratering, nearing [$40 per barrel](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-40-oil-is-here-to-stay-2015-08-14), and shrinking wholesale rates can only result in lower prices at the pump. Or so one would think. Despite plunging oil prices, drivers throughout the Midwest have been subjected to dramatic price spikes at gas stations this week. In [Cincinnati](http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/08/13/bp-refinery--blame--steep-cincy-gas-prices--could-last--month/31622823/), for instance, the price for a gallon of regular increased more than 40¢ overnight at some stations. Less than two weeks after analysts predicted average prices in Michigan would drop [below $2](http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2015/08/02/gas-prices/30936845/) by Christmas, average prices have soared to $2.98 according to [AAA](http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/todays-gas-prices/). The average price per gallon in Illinois has inched up to just under $3 as well. The rise in prices throughout the Midwest has caused the national average to increase too, hitting $2.65 on Friday. That's after a 27-consecutive-day decrease in prices had left the average at $2.58 on Tuesday. Indiana has been one of the hardest-hit states, with gas stations in greater Indianapolis charging [67¢ more](http://www.wbiw.com/state/archive/2015/08/increasing-gas-prices-continue-in-indiana.php) than they were earlier in the week. Speaking of Indiana, a problem with a refinery in the state is what's being blamed for broad price hikes throughout the region. Specifically, an outage in part of the British Petroleum refinery in Indiana—"the most important unit in the biggest plant in the Midwest," per [*Bloomberg*](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-11/one-indiana-refinery-breakdown-ripples-through-u-s-oil-market)—is what's causing prices to spike during prime summer driving season. Drivers are understandably more than a little upset at the unexpected rise in gas station prices, and some aren't accepting the refinery problem as a legitimate reason for the swift increase. In Michigan, Rep. Michael Webber even called on the state attorney general to [launch an investigation](http://www.mlive.com/lansing-news/index.ssf/2015/08/michigan_lawmakers_call_on_ag.html) into the matter, which he suggested smells of opportunistic price gouging. "This dramatic increase in price deserves a full investigation by a trusted Michigan official," Webber [said in a statement](http://www.rochestermedia.com/rep-webber-asks-attorney-general-to-formally-investigate-gas-price-spike/). “In Michigan’s improving economic climate, the necessity of this price spike must be questioned.” Meanwhile, [*Reuters*](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/13/us-oil-spreads-cushing-idUSKCN0QI0ER20150813) is reporting that the refinery outage being blamed for extraordinarily high prices in the Midwest "may take months to resolve." ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-midwest-oil-prices/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gas Prices", "item": "https://money.com/gas-prices/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Drivers Outraged as Gas Prices Soar While Oil Prices Plummet" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-midwest-oil-prices/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/gas-prices-midwest-oil-prices/", "name": "Drivers Outraged as Gas Prices Soar While Oil Prices Plummet", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-08-14T15:57:21.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-midwest-oil-prices/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-midwest-oil-prices/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T06:31:32.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Drivers Outraged as Gas Prices Soar While Oil Prices Plummet", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/08/150814_em_gassoar.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1402, "caption": "150814_EM_GasSoar" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-08-14T15:57:21.000Z", "description": "A British Petroleum oil refinery outage in Illinois is being blamed for gas price spikes throughout the Midwest, with some stations increasing prices 40 or 50 cents overnight.", "abstract": "A British Petroleum oil refinery outage in Illinois is being blamed for gas price spikes throughout the Midwest, with some stations increasing prices 40 or 50 cents overnight.", "@id": "https://money.com/gas-prices-midwest-oil-prices/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-16T06:31:32.000Z", "wordCount": 351, "keywords": [ "Autos", "Crude Oil", "energy", "Gas", "Gas prices", "Oil" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Political economy", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_economy" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Gas prices", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_prices" ] } ] } ] } ```