Meridian Energy Group expects to use a fee-based business model at a 55,000 b/d refinery it plans to build in North Dakota, CEO William Prentice said Wednesday. The start-up company has submitted the first round of permits to the state needed to begin construction of the plant, which will run 27,500 b/d of Bakken crude initially. When completed, the facility will be the state’s third refinery. However, the operating model for the refinery will be very different from that of Tesoro’s 70,000 b/d Mandan refinery and Dakota Prairie’s 20,000 b/d newly built Dickinson refinery, which operate in a more traditional refining model, buying crude and making and selling gasoline and diesel. Some “70% of the capacity planned is dedicated to tolling arrangements,” said Prentice. “People deliver crude to us. We cook it up and give them refined product back.” Prentice declined to discuss ongoing contract negotiations, but said Meridian […]