A power outage hit the BP oil refinery in Whiting, Indiana, on Thursday 1 February, prompting increased burning and flaring to manage excess product.
The outage resulted in burning and flaring from the refinery stacks as BP addressed the surplus product. Despite lifting the evacuation order late Thursday, road closures continued and BP aimed to restore power by 10 pm that evening with gradual system restarts on Friday morning.
Precautionary evacuations were made, with no further actions deemed necessary due to no public danger.
The event’s impact extends to gas prices, with the refinery’s compromised production capacity potentially causing a surge of 15 to 30 cents per gallon.
This incident follows recent worries over a natural gas leak in the south suburbs. A hearing next week will address BP’s air permit continuation.
