Meridian Energy Group today announced it had begun filing permits for its proposed 55,000-barrel-per-day Davis Refinery in Billings County, North Dakota.
Meridian said the new refinery would manufacture fuel for regional and local markets using Bakken crude oil. Company CEO William Prentice said the refinery’s location near producers would reduce its feedstock costs and allow for long-term tolling agreements with producers and refined product distributors.
Small refineries built in recent years to capitalize on the shale boom have struggled amid the oil price collapse. A recent Bloomberg report highlighted the woes of the 20,000-barrel-per-day Dakota Prairie Refinery, which saw its profits decline as the diesel premium plummeted from $100 per barrel to $17 per barrel over the course of a year.
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