The return to service of BP’s Whiting, Indiana refinery has been delayed, industry sources said.
BP started the planned turnaround activity at its 435,000 barrel-per-day refinery in late September. The refinery began restarting units involved in the turnaround in early November.
A source said at least two of the units have experienced startup delays.
The refinery’s 250,000 barrel-per-calendar day (bcd) sour crude distillation unit and the 102,000-bcd coker unit experienced issues during the restart process, the source added. The units are expected to be back online this week.
The Whiting refinery, the largest in the U.S. Midwest, produces a wide range of liquid fuels.
Gasoline prices in the Chicago-area have climbed by at least 11 cents a gallon since mid-November.
BP issued an alert on Monday about flaring at the Whiting refinery. “Flares are an essential safety device that helps the refinery safely manage excess gases during periods of maintenance or operational disruptions,” the company said in a statement.
The flaring concluded on Monday, a BP spokesperson said.
The company did not immediately respond to inquiries about the units experiencing issues during startup.
In February, BP shut the refinery for roughly a month due to a plantwide power outage.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao and Shariq Khan in New York; Editing by David Gregorio and Bill Berkrot)