After six years of trying...an oil refinery may soon be built in central North Dakota.

A milestone is nearly here in the effort to build an oil refinery on the Fort Berthold Reservation in central North Dakota.

As Jim Olson reports, the refinery project continues to be a serious proposal for the Three Affiliated Tribes.

(Jim Olson, KX News) A new oil refinery is an unusual thing in the United States.

(Fred Fox, Three Affiliated Tribes) "There hasn't been a refinery that has been permitted in the last 40 years."


(Jim Olson, KX News) But officials at the Three Affiliated Tribes, who held a special oil workshop Monday, say they are on track to changing that. They expect a major hurdle to be cleared in the next several days, when a draft of an environmental impact statement is released.

(Horace Pipe, Tribal Consultant) "All the government agencies will be down in February to release a final report to the public."


(Jim Olson, KX News) It's a milestone because the tribes have been working on getting the needed permits for the refinery for years.

(Horace Pipe, Tribal Consultant) "You can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This project appeared in the federal register in November of 2003 so that's a long time

(Fred Fox, Three Affiliated Tribes) "For the tribe to get a refinery permitted and get something done would be economically good for the tribes."


(Jim Olson, KX News) The economic impact would be huge- with a pricetag of more than a quarter billion dollars and the promise of hundreds of jobs. Horace Pipe says the next big step is landing investors.

(Horace Pipe, Tribal Consultant) "The tribe needs to go into negotiation with an investment company to finance the refinery. It's an exciting time, this is going to be the first refinery permitted in the US since 1976, the last full grassroots refinery, built from the ground up.

(Jim Olson, KX News) Fred Fox of the tribes says the whole economic category of oil and gas production could be a big boom for the reservation.

(Fred Fox, Three Affiliated Tribes) "It's very promising and we're going to open new doors for the tribes with oil and gas and the refinery.

(Jim Olson, KX News) They're hoping to see the environmental impact statement by the end of this year. Jim Olson, KX News.

Tribal officials estimate the refinery would take about two years to construct. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list