NEW YORK, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency extended the emergency waiver for the second time in response to fuel shortages in four Midwest states where the gasoline supply has been impacted by the outage of Exxon Mobil's (XOM.N) , opens new tab 251,800 barrel-per-day refinery in Joliet, Illinois.

The waiver for Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois will continue through Sept. 15, the EPA said.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

The waiver, which suspends federal anti-smog rules that require the sale of more expensive gasoline in the summer, should help curb gasoline prices.

Midwest gasoline prices have surged in recent weeks due to the refinery shutdown.

CONTEXT

Exxon took the Joliet refinery offline in mid-July due to a power outage after a storm. Exxon began restarting select refinery units three weeks after it lost power.

On July 31, the EPA issued an emergency waiver through Aug. 20 in response to the fuel supply emergency, and extended it earlier this month through Sept. 1.

The refinery produces around 9 million gallons a day of gasoline and diesel, the company website shows.

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https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-epa-extends-fuel-waiver-second-time-midwest-states-2024-08-29/