The federal government declared a regional emergency in the states of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin following a fire that broke out at a BP-owned refinery in Whiting, Indiana. The fire erupted last week and was quickly extinguished but BP said it would need to shut down some units that were affected by the accident. The company is currently assessing the damage to establish when the shut-down units could be restarted. According to the Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the incident had affected the supply of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel across the four states, which prompted the emergency declaration. The four states get a quarter of their fuel supply from the Whiting refinery. The Whiting refinery – the largest refinery in the Midwest and the sixth-largest in the country – is capable of processing 440,000 barrels per day of crude oil. The refinery […]