WOW. Thanks.
Explains todays’ shenanigans. Warren needed SOME tribe to stand up and bitch.
The refinery will provide 300 local construction jobs and 75 to 100 full-time jobs after it’s operational, officials said.
The refinery is off of Highway 23 on 469 acres northwest of Makoti the tribe bought from Bernice Nelson of Minot, N.D., who used to farm on the property with her husband. Makoti, which had a population of 154 in 2010, is about 35 miles east of New Town.
The tribe has contributed $40 million toward the transloading facility portion of the project.
The approximate $450 million total cost will be financed with bonds, said Daniel Eastman, managing director of private investment banking firm John W. Loofbourrow Associates Inc., who traveled from New York to attend the ceremony.
Tribal members and others at the event praised Tribal Chairman Tex “Red Tipped Arrow” Hall for having the vision to pursue a refinery, a plan that began 10 years ago before the Bakken oil boom. Initially the proposal called for refining Canadian tar sands, but in 2008 the plans switched to refine the tribe’s own Bakken crude.
During the celebration, Hall reflected about his ancestors.
“We grew up poor. We were lucky if we had a pair of clean overalls,” Hall said. “But our parents made sure we went to school and got educated. They did the best they could for us. They didn’t know we’d have this oil and gas resource, but now we do. It’s our responsibility to manage it and we are.”
Three Affiliated Tribes officials are talking to other tribes about inter-tribe commerce agreements to distribute diesel from its refinery.
Representatives from several tribes, including the Spokane Tribe of Indians, attended the event and are interested in distributing the diesel.
- See more at: http://www.prairiebizmag.com/event/article/id/14552/#sthash.46Fl7EDg.dpuf