N.D. official suggests refinery on pipeline

North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer wants a new oil refinery built in North Dakota, saying it could be located near the route of a planned pipeline.

TransCanada, based in Calgary, Alberta, is proposing an 1,870-mile pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, to Patoka, Ill. It would pump 400,000 barrels of heavy crude oil a day across Pembina, Walsh, Grand Forks, Steele, Barnes, Ransom and Sargent counties in eastern North Dakota.

“I maintain you have to have a refinery either close to the market or close to the raw product,” Cramer said. “We’re close to the raw product.”

Larger cities don’t want refineries, Cramer said. “So then the question becomes, ‘Does it make sense economically to have a refinery so far from the market?’” he said.

TransCanada plans public meetings in North Dakota in November to explain its pipeline project, which could be operating by 2008 or 2009.

Cramer is one of three members of the Public Service Commission, which reviews pipeline sitings in North Dakota.

—The Associated Press