Gas price hike coming to metro area

(WJBK) - Drivers can expect gas prices to go up soon due to a mechanical issue at one of the largest refineries in the United States.

The refinery in Whiting, Indiana can produce more than 400,000 barrels a day of crude oil, but is currently only producing about half of that due to the mechanical issue. Gas is now expected to jump up about 80 cents in the next coming days.

"The nation is looking at half the number of refineries than we did twenty years ago and they've doubled in size, so when one goes down it's a big deal," says Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy.com.

We're hearing the price increase is already happened in the Chicago area. The refinery is located about 25 miles southeast of the city near Lake Michigan and is operated by BP. The refinery just finished a $3.8 million upgrade in 2013 to make the facility more efficient. The project was one of the largest of its kind in Indiana.

The average gas price in the metro area is hovering around $2.69.