Tesoro Acquires Dakota Prairie Refining Business in North Dakota

Tesoro Corp. has announced it has acquired Dakota Prairie Refining LLC (DPR), the owner of a 20,000 bpd refinery opened just 13 months ago near Dickinson, North Dakota. The DPR refinery, which was co-owned by MDU Resources Group Inc. and Calumet Specialty Product Partners LP, was the first new refinery built in the United States since the 1970's and designed to produce ultra-low sulfur diesel, naphtha and resid. 

"We have successfully grown our business in North Dakota, and created substantial value for our shareholders and local communities," said Greg Goff, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tesoro Corporation. "This acquisition presents new opportunities for continued growth. We have already identified plans to drive substantial improvements, and we are prepared to execute on these plans in 2016. This includes system-wide commercial and feedstock optimization, increased efficiencies in distribution and reduced transportation and refining costs. As a result, we expect to generate more than $20 million in annual operating income from this business - even if the current economic conditions continue."

With the acquisition, Tesoro now owns seven refineries is the U.S. with a total processing capacity of over 850,000 bpd, including the only other North Dakota refinery, Tesoro's 73,860 bpd Mandan Refinery.