GasBuddy expert explains reason behind recent gas price spike in Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — With gas prices jumping back up to $3.79 at many gas stations in greater Fort Wayne, a GasBuddy expert warned that the reason behind it is still ongoing and prices could continue to climb.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told WANE 15 that the recent trends in gas prices around the Fort Wayne area are due to an oil refinery in Joliet, Illinois losing power after a tornado recently swept through the area.

“We’re talking about a pretty big loss here of gasoline into the market, and that’s why gas prices have suddenly jumped,” De Haan said.

De Haan said the refinery — which produces roughly nine million gallons of gas daily — has not been operational for days, and while power could be fully restored within a day or so, it may take up to a week before the refinery is running on all cylinders.

“When you turn your oven on, it has to preheat, and keep in mind that oven is very small compared to how much oil is going into a refinery, so half of the problem is that this refinery was offline for so long that a lot of the units have gotten cold,” De Haan said. “Before this refinery can really start refining again, a lot of these things have to be heated back up … even if power is restored tonight, it probably will take several days to get the amount of heat and things going back to get this refinery back.”

While De Haan noted the odds of a tornado causing major disruptions to oil production are pretty low, the repercussions can be substantial when it does happen.

“Typically, refineries are one of the largest consumers of electricity, so they tend to be well-supplied — they may have backup lines, they may have larger lines — but when severe weather happens so close to a refinery that it knocks out power, this type of thing can happen,” De Haan said.

Due to the issues the refinery is facing, De Haan believes prices could be affected for the next few weeks.

“Wholesale gasoline prices are up 30 cents a gallon this week,” De Haan said. “We already saw a lot of stations raising their prices to $3.79. They may go up to $3.89, maybe even $3.99. We could hit the highest level of the year.”

While gas prices are rising across Fort Wayne and the Great Lakes region as a whole, De Haan posted on social media Friday noting the national average is holding at $3.50 per gallon.