Another Refinery in the Works? -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

From the Bismarck Tribune: North Dakota legislator wants North Dakota to provide $5 million matching funds and a Bank of North Dakota $50 million loan guarantee for a new refinery in western North Dakota. The link will be broken shortly since it links to a regional newspaper.

Those in the business doubt a small refinery could attract enough private interest, but would be a good investment for the state. The refinery could produce diesel fuel for trucks in North Dakota, and naphtha which is used by Canadian producers as a thinning agent to allow heavy crude oil to move through the pipelines.

Meanwhile, the federal government continues to delay action on Fort Berthold's permit for a refinery on the reservation.

I kind of like the idea of this new development. If the project goes forward, we will be able to see head-to-head "competition" between a state-approved refinery and a federally-approved refinery on the reservation. We can see which one moves along the fastest.