Makoti Refinery startup imminent
Makoti Refinery startup imminent
By Jerry W. Kram
Editor Note: This is the first of a three part series on issues presented at the MHA Nation Bakken Oil and Gas Expo.
Plans for a refinery somewhere on the Fort Berthold Reservation have been slowly coming together ever since the Three Affiliated Tribes authorized an engineering study of the idea in 2002. According to officials speaking at the MHA Nation Bakken Oil and Gas Expo, those dreams may be on the verge of becoming a reality.
Site preparation work is being done at the site of the proposed facility, which would be located on North Dakota Highway 23 near Makoti, a few miles from the eastern border of the reservation, said Fred Fox, administrator of the MHA Energy Department. Trees are being cleared from the site and the foundation for the refinery’s flare stack has been completed. Fox said major construction could start by the end of this summer and could be producing diesel fuel by 2014.
Thunder Butte Petroleum Services, the tribally owned business that is overseeing the creation of the refinery, issued a request for proposals in October to finance and build the facility. By the time the request closed on Jan. 1, Thunder Butte had received 12 financing proposals and 10 construction proposals. The company is in the final stages of selecting the top candidates among the 22 proposals.
