Update On "Port Of North Dakota" -- December 12, 2017

The last time I blogged about ND Port Services it was about the port being in default in lease payments. A short update from The Minot Daily News in this story:

• the city has been seeking lease payments from NDPS that it states are overdue. In court documents, NDPS alleges the city breached the lease by failing to maintain the property. First Western Bank filed foreclosure against NDPS in May for delinquent loan payments. That legal debate continues in North Central District Court. 

Bur now there appears to be new interest in the port:

• NDPS currently operates with three tracks of about 4,500 feet. Limitations with those tracks preclude handling more than a few cars at a time. NDPS would like to construct four rails of 9,500 feet to enable the port to serve more cars and create a more viable operation.

Because of the way the story is written, it's a bit hard to follow but this is what it sounds like to me:

• the Port had a projected $130 million investment fall through in 2013; focused on Bakken energy; investor got "cold feet" -- worried how long the boom would last
• the Port was unable to maintain lease payments to the city of Minot
• the Port now has an investor group interested in investing $80 million the project
• but to do that, the Port needs to add rail on land that the city of Minot owns
• the Port focused on Bakken oil back in 2013; now it pivots to agriculture, wants to become a distribution and logistics center for a core hub between Chicago and Seattle

Background:

• development of the Port began in 2005
• NDPS was established in 2007 (still commonly called the Port of North Dakota)
• transloading activity began in 2010

To put this in perspective, compare with Red River Oilfield Service, on the east side of Williston, ND -- built privately by a single individual. When I was last there, the rail yard had around eleven rail spurs; I don't know the exact length of each spur, but at least one had been completed as part of the "Unit Train Project" -- unit trains are colloquially said to be a "mile long."

Comments: this is incredibly good news for the Port, the city of Minot, and, the entire region. It certainly suggests the "Bakken economy" continues to hum along.