BERTHOLD, N.D. – A proposed refinery in northwest North Dakota would process up to 45,000 barrels of Bakken crude each day to produce gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and other products, according to a permit application.
Quantum Energy and Native Son Refining have applied to the North Dakota Department of Health for an air quality permit to construct a refinery northwest of Berthold, or about 25 miles northwest of Minot.
The application states the proposed refinery would produce gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, ultra-low sulfur fuel oil and other products.
Several refineries have been proposed for North Dakota, but this is the only permit application under review by the Department of Health, said Craig Thorstenson, with the Division of Air Quality.
Most other projects discussed have been similar to the Prairie Dakota Refinery that recently began operating west of Dickinson, which processes 20,000 barrels of Bakken crude per day and produces diesel.
ADVERTISEMENT
The proposed Berthold refinery would process twice as much oil and produce more refined products.
"It's a little more involved," Thorstenson said.
The health department has issued air quality permits for refineries and other projects that didn't get built, Thorstenson said. The department issued two permits for Dakota Oil Processing to construct a refinery in northwest North Dakota, but those have now expired, he said.
"It's hard to say in any particular case if they're going to go forward or not," Thorstenson said.
A map submitted to the health department shows the refinery located across U.S. Highway 2 from Enbridge's Berthold Station, which includes storage tanks connected to Enbridge pipelines and a rail-loading terminal.
The health department will ask for a more detailed layout of the facility, and may request additional information, Thorstenson said. An air quality permit review typically takes about six months, he said.
The project is proposed by a joint venture between Quantum Energy of Arizona and Native Son Refining, a subsidiary of Native Son Holdings of Texas.
On the company's website, Quantum Energy describes itself as a "development stage publicly traded diversified holding company with an emphasis in oil field development." Calls to Quantum Energy seeking comment were not returned Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT
According to a news release from July, Quantum has signed two-year option agreements with landowners in Baker, Mont., Fairview, Mont., Stanley and Berthold for refinery sites. The company says it's "making progress in firming up relationships with other strategic alliance partners, refinery design teams, engineering firms, major diesel off-take sources and potential funding sources as well as crude supply candidates."
The Prairie Dakota Refinery, operated by MDU Resources and Calumet Specialty Products Partners, was the first refinery built in the U.S. in decades. That project, which took more than two years of construction and testing, cost about $425 million.
The Tesoro refinery in Mandan processes 68,000 barrels of oil per day.
The proposed Berthold refinery would primarily be fueled by purchased natural gas, as well as refinery fuel gas produced by the refinery, the permit application states.
In addition to processing Bakken crude, the refinery may process an additional 10,000 barrels per day of naphtha to make retail gasoline, the document says.
