New Refinery Coming to Trenton | Video

Chris Williams | 2/14/2013

The Bakken pumps out hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day. With only one refinery in the state, most of that oil is sent down to the Gulf or to coastal refineries. But that could soon change.

A skimming refinery, meaning it will only produce diesel, will be built about four miles west of Trenton on an old beet farm. There will be two pipelines running to the refinery, and 12 docks for trucks to unload oil.

"We will be using Bakken crude. We`re looking at about 8,000 barrels of diesel. Of course there`s 42 gallons per barrel that gives you the gallons that would be available in this area," said VP of Dakota Oil Processing Mel Falcon.

That means about 20,000 gallons of diesel per day. Diesel is in such high demand it`s being shipped from all over the country, but Falcon says it`s doesn`t always arrive on time.

"When the farmers are needing the fuel, it doesn`t get here. You get some shortage of ag diesel."

All of the diesel made at the Trenton refinery will stay in the MonDak region. The refinery will bring more traffic to the Trenton area, but residents shouldn`t notice much of a change.

"We try to alleviate the best way to make sure that the impact is minimal, and any impact that there is on it won`t affect the community in a negative way," said SBL Associates President Brom Lutz.

SBL has also done studies to make sure the refinery won`t affect the surrounding land. By adding more diesel to the area, Falcon says he hopes oil companies, and residents, will notice a difference in their wallets.

"Expensive transportation adds to the cost at the pump. If you can eliminate some of the transpiration cost, obviously the price of diesel should go down."

Falcon also says the new refinery should reduce some truck traffic, since fewer trucks will have to bring diesel to the Bakken.

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