Power restored to BP oil refinery in Indiana after outage prompts evacuation, shutdown, company says

The BP Whiting refinery in East Chicago, Ind., stands on Sept. 21, 2017. BP’s sprawling oil refinery in northwest Indiana was hit Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, by a power outage that prompted the company to shut it down and evacuate workers, authorities said. (DroneBase via AP, File)

WHITING, Ind. (AP) — Power has been restored to BP’s sprawling oil refinery in northwest Indiana following an outage that prompted the company to temporarily shut down the complex and evacuate workers, BP said Friday.

BP spokesperson Christina Audisho said in a statement that power was back on Friday at the refinery following Thursday’s outage, and the refinery’s office buildings and nearby roads had reopened.

She said that “operations have been stabilized at the refinery.” But Audisho did not immediately reply to an email from The Associated Press asking for BP to elaborate on the situation at the refinery, including whether refining had resumed and if the outage’s cause had been determined.

Audisho said all refinery staff were accounted for and no injuries were reported following the outage at the refinery, located along Lake Michigan about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Chicago.

The city of Whiting said Thursday that the refinery was flaring its stacks in response to the outage “to burn off the extra product” in what was described as a “normal process” following such an event.

Audisho said in Friday’s statement that air monitoring continues around the refinery “and no elevated readings have been recorded.”

The city of Whiting said air monitoring conducted at multiple location by both BP and Lake County had determined that “there was no danger to the public.”

The refinery is the biggest in the U.S. Midwest and sixth-largest nationally, processing about 440,000 barrels of crude oil daily, making a variety of liquid fuels and asphalt.