2nd Diesel Refinery in the Works for North Dakota -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Updates

May 28, 2012: MDU to hold informational update meetings on their proposed refinery. Some in the Dickinson area voiced concerns about CO2. It appears that some folks in the Dickinson area think that if you export the crude, refine it elsewhere, no CO2 is produced.  And then those same faux environmentalists somehow overlook the fact that the refined crude -- in the form of diesel -- is shipped back to North Dakota. A tip of the hat to Don who pointed this out.  We're also talking about a 20,000 bopd refinery; can someone quantify the CO2 production with this proposed refinery and with huge refineries in Texas. Just saying.

Original Post

A big "thank you" to Mike for sending me the story.

Reuters link here.

Data points:

• 20,000 bpd refinery; Bakken crude to diesel; hopefully by 2014
• 5 miles southwest of Dickinson, between Dickinson and South Heart; estimate now $325 million
• joint venture between MDU and Calumet Specialty Products
• cost estimate: <$500 million
• this is the second such recently-announced diesel refinery; first one is a $200 million, 20,000 bpd plant; the first US "greenfield" refinery in 35 years
• Calumet bought Murphy Oil's 34,300 bpd refinery in Superior, WI, last summer

A refinery proposal near Dickinson? Good luck. I can already "see" the op-ed and letters to the editor in The Dickinson Press.

For newbies, the trucking industry is in desperate need for more diesel in the Bakken.

And the need for trucks and rail will only increase as long as the Keystone XL is not built. You almost wonder if faux-environmentalists have invested in the railroad industry, the trucking industry, and companies building diesel refineries.