(Adds background, details on operations)
HOUSTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - BP Plc's 405,000 barrelper day (bpd) Whiting, Indiana, refinery is expected to begin aplanned overhaul of a gasoline-producing fluidic catalyticcracking unit by March 1, sources familiar with operations atthe refinery said on Friday.
Expectations that BP will need gasoline while the FCCU isshut for much of March sent CBOB gasoline prices up 7.5 cents agallon on Friday in the Chicago market, traders said.
A BP spokesman declined to discuss the company's plans formaintenance of the Whiting refinery.
BP has been planning the overhaul of the 65,000 bpd FCCU 600for more than a year. The Whiting refinery's 110,000 bpd FCCU500 is expected to remain in operation while the work on thesmaller of the two FCCUs is under way. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by Andre Grenon and G Crosse)