Key keywords: Michigan gas price spike 2024, Midwest refinery unplanned outage, US gasoline supply disruption, 40-80 cent per gallon gas hike, Michigan Wednesday fuel price increase, Great Lakes motorist cost impact, Michigan AAA fuel forecast, regional fuel distribution bottleneck A major unplanned outage at the 340,000-barrel-per-day BP Whiting Refinery, the primary fuel supplier to 90% of Michigan’s retail gas stations, has triggered warnings of unprecedented near-term price jumps for motorists across the state, with AAA Michigan confirming Wednesday will see the single largest one-day price hike recorded in the region since 2022. The refinery, located just across the Indiana border near Chicago, suffered a critical equipment failure in its crude distillation unit on Sunday evening, with operators confirming full repairs will take a minimum of 12 to 16 days, cutting off nearly 70% of the gasoline supply allocated to Michigan markets for the next two weeks. As of Tuesday, the statewide average for regular unleaded gasoline in Michigan stood at $3.14 per gallon, 12 cents lower than the national average. AAA analysts project that Wednesday’s price adjustment will push that average up between 40 and 80 cents, with rural parts of the Upper Peninsula facing even steeper increases of up to $1 per gallon due to longer supply chains and limited existing inventory. Local fuel distributors confirmed that most gas station operators will implement the full price increase by midday Wednesday, as remaining lower-cost stock runs out. State energy officials have urged residents to avoid panic buying, noting that existing fuel inventories across the state are sufficient to meet demand for at least 72 hours, and no supply shortages are expected despite the price spike. However, the cost increase is expected to have widespread ripple effects across the state’s economy: daily commuters who drive an average of 40 miles round trip to work will see monthly fuel costs rise between $32 and $64, while small businesses relying on delivery fleets, landscaping trucks and work vehicles could face thousands of dollars in added operating costs if the price hike persists for more than two weeks. Analysts note that if refinery repairs are completed on schedule, prices should begin to gradually decline by the end of the month, returning to pre-outage levels by mid-November. The outage also comes just weeks ahead of the busy Thanksgiving travel period, raising concerns that higher prices could reduce holiday travel volumes for Michigan residents this year.