A sudden power outage knocked out ExxonMobil’s massive Channahon refinery Sunday afternoon, triggering a shutdown that has plant workers scrambling through site assessments and air monitoring while fuel analysts warn the disruption could ripple into gas prices across the Chicago region.
The outage began around 3:30 p.m. Sunday and knocked out power for roughly three and a half hours before it was restored at about 7 p.m., according to CBS News Chicago. The refinery, located in unincorporated Channahon Township southwest of Chicago, is now investigating the cause of the outage, and workers were still conducting a site status assessment as of Monday. A refinery spokesperson said the safety of the community and workforce remains the primary focus, and that the plant is in touch with the appropriate agencies, per the same report.
The stakes of even a brief outage at this facility are considerable. GasBuddy petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan warned Monday that the power loss could create upward pressure on Great Lakes spot gasoline and diesel prices, a risk compounded by the fact that BP’s Whiting, Indiana refinery is already partially offline for maintenance, according to a post on Bluesky. De Haan noted that some of that pressure may be cushioned by the approaching seasonal switch to cheaper winter-blend fuel.
A Refinery That Anchors the Region’s Fuel Supply
The scale of what’s at stake becomes clearer when you look at what the Channahon plant actually produces. ExxonMobil’s own 2026 facility factsheet states the refinery processes up to 275,000 barrels of crude oil daily, accounting for 6% of total Midwest refining capacity, and churns out roughly 11 million gallons of gasoline and diesel a day, per ExxonMobil — daily output equivalent to about 550,000 car and semi-truck fill-ups…