Meridian Energy applies for permits to build new North Dakota refinery

Meridian Energy has submitted its first round of permit applications relating to its proposed 55,000-bpd Davis refinery in North Dakota, the company confirmed on Monday.

The Davis site is located near Belfield in Billings County, North Dakota, in the heart of the Bakken shale play. 

Meridian says it filed applications for a zoning certificate and conditional use permit with Billings County. In the coming weeks, Meridian will file additional permit applications, including an application for the refinery's permit to construct with the State of North Dakota Health Department. 

Also included will be an application for a conditional use permit for an equipment assembly and fabrication facility, which will serve the needs of the both the refinery as well as other local oil and gas businesses.

The proposed Davis refinery will be the first “greenfield” complex high-conversion refinery built in many years, the company says. As a brand new plant, the Davis refinery will not be burdened with outdated legacy operating units, will operate more cleanly and efficiently, will utilize state-of-the-art instrumentation and control technology, and will fully comply with modern environmental and safety requirements.

"The Davis refinery will be one of the most modern, efficient and environmentally-compliant refineries in the US in more than 50 years," said William Prentice, chairman & CEO of Meridian Energy Group.

For the design, equipment and construction of the Davis refinery, Meridian has partnered with multinational engineering firm, Vepica, and Houston-based construction and logistics firm, BASIC Equipment.

“We’re excited to take this next step in our partnership with Meridian and BASIC,” said Franklin Espiga, Vepica’s vice president of international business development. “With this collaboration of innovative, global energy leaders, our progress has already exceeded expectations, and we are confident that we will continue to deliver such results throughout.”

“Partnering with Meridian and Vepica has already proven to deliver next-generation results, which will manifest themselves in not only the Davis Refinery, but also our fabrication and construction facilities — both of which will serve the energy needs of the community for years to come," added Tommy Balke, CEO and president of BASIC Equipment.

The Davis refinery addresses two pressing needs, according to company officials, with the first being a demand for local refining capacity. To that end, the refinery will expand capacity near production areas with more than 1 MMbpd of crude oil currently being produced in the Bakken region — most of which is currently being transported out of North Dakota for refining at higher costs.

Additionally, the refinery will increase the supply of fuel for the regional and local markets: The processing plant will turn locally-produced crude into super-clean transportation and heating fuels, providing a supply to the oil service, agriculture and trucking industries, as well as consumer automobiles — which is currently being shipped into North Dakota also at higher costs, Meridian says.

“By building the Davis refinery close to the oil producers, Meridian can enter into long-term process tolling agreements with producers and refined product distribution firms that makes these firms stronger financially, and at the same time substantially reduces the refinery’s feedstock costs," Prentice said. "This will also provide additional competitive choices to local and regional fuel consumers, resulting in reduced costs to those consumers."

Meridian Energy says the refinery will lead with innovation and clean fuels technology. The Davis plant aims to maximize the use of local natural gas as the fuel source to run the facility, reducing the incidence of flared gas, the company says. Additionally, providing cleaner diesel fuel locally will displace transportation fuels that are refined and delivered from remote areas, resulting in reduced transportation-related pollution, Meridian says.