Evansville Gas Prices Jump Due to Unplanned Refinery Repairs

Drivers in the Evansville area had to do a double take yesterday after seeing gas prices in the area jump 30 to 40 cents per gallon. I first noticed the major difference on my way home from work when I passed the Marathon station at the corner of Heidelbach and Columbia on Evansville's north side (pictured left, above). Hoping it was simply input incorrectly by an employee, I drove past another Marathon in the area at the corner of Diamond and Stringtown to see if the first price was a simple mistake on the part of the station, or if there was some validity to price jump. As you can see from the photo on the right above, unfortunately it wasn't an isolated incident. The reason behind the jump, according to GasBuddy.com, is an unplanned repair this past Saturday at a refinery in Whiting, Indiana just outside of Chicago that caused the shutdown of a 240,000 barrel per day crude distillation unit leading the refinery to run at 44% capacity. On a positive note, GasBuddy.com is reporting the repair should only take seven to ten days. Until then, plan on digging a little deeper into your pocket to fill up the tank.