ExxonMobil Joliet refinery shut down after power outage
The Illinois facility experienced a power failure on Sunday or Monday, leading to its temporary closure.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Photograph: WND (embedded from source)
What this story says
- ExxonMobil's Joliet, Illinois refinery shut down on Sunday or Monday due to a power outage.
- The refinery has a capacity of between 264,000 and 275,000 barrels per day.
- Power was restored later on Monday, but the company was still assessing refinery units.
- A similar outage occurred in July 2024 following a severe storm.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 9 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
60/100
Hype
41/100
9 sources · methodology
ExxonMobil's refinery in Joliet, Illinois, experienced a power outage on Sunday or Monday, leading to its shutdown. The facility processes between 264,000 and 275,000 barrels of oil per day. Power was restored later on Monday evening, according to Stuart Turley, president and CEO of the Sandstone Group and host of the Energy News Beat podcast. The company was still assessing refinery units following the shutdown.
Capacity figures differ
Reports provide differing figures for the refinery's capacity. WND stated the capacity is 275,000 barrels per day, while Reuters reported it as 264,000 barrels per day.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports mention the EPA emergency fuel waiver issued in July 2024, which was detailed in the centre-rated report from WTVB and the full report from WND. The full report from WND also included details about a recent Clean Water Act enforcement action and a civil penalty paid by ExxonMobil at the Joliet refinery, which were not mentioned in the right-rated digests.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 14 Sept 2026, 23:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
2 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports focused on the operational details of the shutdown. WTVB and Reuters both reported that Exxon Mobil brought its 264,000-barrel-per-day Joliet, Illinois, refinery offline after a power outage occurred on Sunday, with the company confirming the event on Monday. Reuters noted the outage began around 3:30 p.m. Central Time on Sunday and lasted until approximately 7 p.m., according to a company statement.
Right
5 rated outlets
- Right-rated reports highlighted the scale of the outage and its potential impact. WND, which published a full report, stated the refinery suffered a "total power outage" on Monday. Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy noted the outage and potential flaring. WND also reported that Stuart Turley stated power was restored later Monday evening, but the company was still assessing refinery units. This report also detailed a similar power outage and shutdown in July 2024 following a severe storm, which led to an EPA emergency fuel waiver. WND stated the refinery's capacity is 275,000 barrels per day and that it accounts for roughly 6% of total Midwest refining capacity. The outlet also mentioned that the refinery produces approximately 11 million gallons of gasoline and diesel daily. The reports from Conservative Daily News, End Time Headlines, Bizpac Review, and thedailybs.com all described the event as a "total power outage" and noted the threat to gasoline and diesel supply for the Midwest.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover ExxonMobil Joliet refinery shut down after power outage?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 29% are rated centre, 71% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 9. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is ExxonMobil Joliet refinery shut down after power outage left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of ExxonMobil Joliet refinery shut down after power outage biased?
- ExxonMobil Joliet refinery shut down after power outage is one event reported by 9 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which outlets covered ExxonMobil Joliet refinery shut down after power outage?
- 9 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What happened at the ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois?
- The ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois, experienced a power outage on Sunday or Monday, leading to its shutdown. Power was restored later on Monday, but the company was still assessing refinery units.
- What is the capacity of the Joliet refinery?
- Reports vary on the exact capacity. WND stated the refinery can process 275,000 barrels of crude oil per day, while Reuters reported its capacity as 264,000 barrels per day.
- Has this refinery experienced outages before?
- Yes, a severe storm caused a similar power outage and shutdown in July 2024. That incident led to an EPA emergency fuel waiver for several Midwestern states due to gasoline supply shortages.
Read it at the source
9 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
2Right
5- NEW - An unknown power outage forced Exxon Mobil to shut down its Joliet, Illinois refinery, pulling 11 million gallons of daily fuel production offline as U.S. diesel climbs past $6 a gallon (opens news-pravda.com in a new tab)
news-pravda.com — is news-pravda.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Energy Giant’s Flagship Plant In America’s Heartland Just Lost All Power (opens Conservative Daily News in a new tab)
Conservative Daily News — is Conservative Daily News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Exxon Mobile just shut down Joliet refinery after a power outage (opens End Time Headlines in a new tab)
End Time Headlines — is End Time Headlines biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Energy giant’s flagship plant in America’s heartland suffers ‘total power outage’ * WorldNetDaily * by Paris Apodaca, Daily Caller News Foundation (opens WND in a new tab)
- Energy giant’s flagship plant in America’s heartland just lost all power (opens Bizpac Review in a new tab)
Bizpac Review — is Bizpac Review biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
2How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
