Gas Price Warning Issued for Great Lakes States

Key Points:

• Gas prices in the Great Lakes region are expected to rise further, with Ohio at high risk of the largest increase, while Wisconsin and Indiana face moderate risk, and Michigan and Illinois have low to medium risk of surpassing $5 per gallon.
• Recent price hikes are driven by geopolitical tensions, including the war in Iran and attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure, compounded by refinery challenges such as flooding and power outages at ExxonMobil’s Joliet refinery and maintenance and labor disputes at other regional refineries.
• As of Friday, average gas prices nationwide reached $4.47 per gallon, with Great Lakes states experiencing significant overnight increases, and California maintaining the highest prices at $6.11 per gallon.
• The Midwest supply is particularly vulnerable due to refinery outages and disruptions, including planned maintenance at Ohio’s Lima refinery and labor disputes at Indiana’s BP Whiting refinery, which could exacerbate price volatility.
• Despite rising fuel costs, President Donald Trump has defended the higher prices as a necessary cost to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and predicted gas prices would soon decrease sharply.