Energy Scene with Jason Spiess

As I drove into Dickinson, taking a moment to soak in the event I was about to experience, I noticed diesel was selling for less than gasoline. At the time, I was more interested in understanding why the Dakota Prairie Refinery was the first greenfield refinery in the United States in nearly
40 years.

Upon arrival I quickly found out I wasn’t the only one who noticed the price of diesel was selling for less than gasoline. Then a presentation of the new refinery came. This presentation was a celebration of the hard work, investment and completion of the Calumet Specialty Products and MDU Resources partnership.

Spectators and attendees capture the historic moment in time with their minds and iDevices.

North Dakota govenor Jack Dalrymple (left), Calumet Speciality Products, Chairman, Fred Fehsenfeld (middle) and MDU Resources Group (right) pose with gubnatorial gifts – North Dakota ties.

North Dakota governor Jack Dalrymple (left) thanks Calumet Speciality Products for their investment into the energy industry and North Dakota.

Attendees gather before the Grand Opening celebration several miles outside the city limits of Dickinson and South Heart, ND.

North Dakota Department of Commerce commissioner Al Anderson

A shot of folks socializing under the presentation tent before the Grand Opening celebration.

Dr. Mark R. Hagerott, Chancellor for the North Dakota University System (left) and shirley Meyer (right), oil patch resident and current staff for U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp.

MDU Resources Group, CEO and president, David Goodin and Dennis Johnson, Dickinson (ND) mayor.

Several tours were given to attendees discussing how the new plant can process 20,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil daily to produce 7,000 barrels of diesel fuel as well as other hydrocarbon products.

U.S. Senator John Hoeven (right) and Dickinson mayor Dennis Johnson (left)

Dustin Monke, editor, The Dickinson Press interview Kevin Stanley, CEO, CEO, Ventech Engineers International, Houston, TX. Ventech was one of the major players involved in construction of the Dakota Prairie Refinery.

Author Profile

Jason Spiess

Contributor - The Crude Life Content Network

Jason Spiess is a multimedia journalist, entrepreneur and content consultant. Spiess has over 25 years of media experience in broadcasting, journalism, reporting and principal ownership in media companies. (Over 30 years experience if you count his adolescent years as a newspaper delivery boy learning the importance and logistics of daily distribution and monthly door-to-door bill collecting.) Spiess has worked in the areas of oil and gas, UAS and precision agriculture, health care, cannabis, agriculture, real estate, government affairs and economic development. Spiess is the host of two radio programs, Building the Bakken and Coffee & Capitalism, and three specialty programs, MonDak OilField Review, Corporate Ink and UnStuck, that carry a radio network that spans five states and two countries. Spiess is a North Dakota native and graduated from North Dakota State University.

Energy Scene with Jason Spiess

Jason Spiess

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