Thursday, May 31, 2012

A Bit of North Dakota Oil History Trivia

In an article on a proposed new MDU-South Heart refinery, it was noted that if completed, it would be the first refinery built in North Dakota in 60 years.

My understanding is that there is a refinery farther along in the process near Trenton, North Dakota, if that project is still moving along. I haven't heard much about that refinery in quite some time. It will also be a diesel refinery.

Now, some trivia. The linked article said this:
There hasn't been a new refinery in North Dakota since the Tesoro refinery came on line in 1954, just after oil was discovered in North Dakota.
Oil was discovered April 4, 1951.

There were three refineries built in 1954: the Amoco refinery in Mandan; the Westland refinery in Williston; and, the Queen City refinery in Dickinson. Source:  NDGS/DMR.
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 31, 2012 at 11:27 AM

    With the price of oil dropping (nd sweet is dropping pretty quickly too) I'm wondering at what point it'll will start hurting the growth in ND. I've heard $50 is the magic number and anything below that makes it unprofitable. ND sweet is getting closer to that number every day.

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  2. Bruce OksolMay 31, 2012 at 12:21 PM

    Not to worry. If oil gets that low it will be due to a world-wide depression or possibly severe global recession.

    1. Saudi Arabia needs $87 oil and prefers $100 oil (they never specify, but I assume Brent).

    2. Canadian oil sands needs much higher prices than Bakken to be profitable. So, when you see Canadian oil sands start to shut down their operations, then time to worry short term.

    3. China and Japan will soak up $85 oil.

    4. And, of course, we haven't even started talking about Mideast unrest.

    So, oil could drop significantly -- below $50/bbl -- but it won't stay there long, and it will be great investing opportunities for retail investors; and we will see a shakeout in the Bakken as producers buy and sell.

    But then again, I'm an eternal optimist. I have a very, very long horizon.

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  3. AnonymousMay 31, 2012 at 6:15 PM

    Bruce- Not No.Dak. There was a refinery at Wolf Point,Mt.owned by Ken Luff that was operating in the 70's.I believe they made jet fuel and sold to Minot AFB.

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    Replies
    1. Bruce OksolMay 31, 2012 at 7:38 PM

      Interesting. "Luff" -- the name rings a bell.

      Ken Luff: third member of the North Dakota Petroleum Council Hall of Fame:

      http://www.ndoil.org/?id=65&page=Ken+Luff

      What legends!

      Thank you for taking time to comment.

      Delete

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