Another First for the Bakken -- Well, The First in 35 Years -- A New Refinery -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This has been posted earlier, but now it has made the PennEnergy News! Pretty exciting.

As reported earlier, Dakota Oil Process plans to build a 20,000 bopd refining plant outside of Trenton, North Dakota. The plant will produce diesel for local trucking needs.

The U.S. could see a new oil refinery for the first time in decades, as fuel demand within the oil industry itself spikes, according to Reuters.

Much has been made recently of the lack of approval for new nuclear power plants, but the country also has not seen another oil refining plant built in 35 years.

However, the Bakken shale oil fields in North Dakota have created a booming economy that is heavily reliant on a variety of different diesel-powered vehicles. With only one refinery in the state, a 58,000 barrel per day diesel plant owned by Tesoro Corp, demand often dramatically outstrips production, particularly if there are any issues at the distant facilities in the Midwest that supply much of the state's diesel.

"Trucks arrive at the loading station and some wait three to four hours and others in excess of eight hours," Bud Kerr, operations manager at hauling company J5, told Reuters. "The problem appears to be worse than what it was last year."

The article says that this will meet about 10 percent of the state's requirements. The real question is how much will this meet the local requirement -- hopefully close to 100 percent. Smile.