By John Gregory/IRN

WHITING, IN – The partial shutdown of a major Midwest oil refinery means you’ll be paying more at the gas pump, but still not as much as you were last summer.
 
It will take a month to repair a crude distillation unit at the BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana, and during that time, AAA Chicago spokeswoman Beth Mosher estimates gas prices may go up 15 to 30 cents per gallon. She says that’s not enough to erase the summer’s low prices.
 
“Right now, across Illinois, the average for a gallon of gasoline is about $2.81,” Mosher said. “So even we add on the 30 cent worst-case scenario to that, that still puts the average at about $3.10, which is really still low for this time of year.”
 
Prices have gone up by more than that estimate in parts of the state — Springfield, for example, has seen a 50 cent per gallon spike this week, as has Chicago.
 
Mosher says it’s too soon to tell how much of Illinois will be affected by the refinery problems.