Mandan Refinery Groundbreaking Held on This Day In 1953

April was a big month for the oil industry in North Dakota. It was on this date in 1953, American Oil Company held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the Mandan Refinery. This happened two years after the discovery of oil in the state.

The Mandan Refinery is a refinery in Mandan, North Dakota, United States. It is also known as the Marathon Petroleum Mandan Refinery. Marathon Petroleum Corporation, a leading petroleum refining and marketing company based in the United States, operates it. The Mandan Refinery was built by the Mandan Refinery Company in 1954 and was purchased by Marathon Petroleum in 1998. The refinery can process up to 74,000 barrels of crude oil per day and manufactures gasoline, diesel fuel, and other petroleum products.

Because of its proximity to the Bakken shale formation, one of the largest oil-producing regions in the United States, the refinery can process crude oil produced locally. The refinery also receives crude oil from other parts of North America via pipelines.  The refinery has undergone several upgrades and modernizations in recent years to improve its efficiency and environmental performance. Marathon Petroleum, for example, completed a $170 million upgrade project in 2019 to increase the refinery's diesel production capacity and reduce emissions.

The refinery contributes significantly to the local economy of Mandan and the surrounding region by providing jobs and tax revenue. However, because of the release of pollutants and greenhouse gases, it, like all petroleum refineries, poses potential environmental and health risks. Marathon Petroleum has taken a number of steps to mitigate these risks, including investing in emissions-reducing technology and adhering to federal and state environmental regulations. You can read more about these steps and improvements here.

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