A bid by Houston-based Meridian Energy Group Inc. to build an $850 million oil refinery only 3 miles from the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota is delayed again by county leaders in Medora. If approved, it would be the nation’s newest refinery.
Billings County Commissioners decided this week to wait until July 6 to take a formal vote whether to approve the 55,000-barrel-a-day refinery between the towns of Fryburg and Belfield. The County’s planning and zoning board met in April and recommended approval on a 700-acre site.
Meridian officials say the latest delay might keep construction from beginning this summer.
“This is actually the best (site) suited for the project,” said Dan Hedrington, project manager. “So this is our goal, to secure this site, the permitting that’s required to build on this site.”
Meridian Energy filed its first round of permit applications in March. The Davis site is right in the heart of the Bakken play.
“The Davis Refinery will be one of the most modern, efficient and environmentally-compliant refineries in the U.S. in more than 50 years,” said William Prentice, Chairman and CEO in March.
Company officials say the refinery would address the demand for local refining capacity and expand capacity by more than a million barrels of oil a day being produced in the Bakken region. It would also result in a local supply of fuel for regional and local markets which now must relay on their supplies shipped into North Dakota at higher costs.
