Tesoro Corp. said it plans to spend about $50 million on rail facilities to boost Bakken Shale crude oil shipments from North Dakota to its refinery in Anacortes, WA. The San Antonio-based company said it hopes to deliver up to 30,000 b/d after the project’s completion, up from the current rate of 1,000 to 2,000 b/d. The project will include loading and unloading facilities and a unit train. Tesoro estimates construction will take between nine months to a year to complete, once the necessary permits are received.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced that it received nearly $66.3 million from the sale of oil and gas leases on parcels in North and South Dakota. On July 12 the BLM had offered up 87 parcels in North Dakota totaling 19,392.64 acres, and 24 parcels in South Dakota totaling 12,788.05 acres. The highest bids were made for two North Dakota parcels at $8,800 per acre by Irish Oil and Gas of Bismarck, ND, and Continental Resources of Williston, ND. The highest single-parcel bid, nearly $6.22 million, was made by Hess Corp. for a 723-acre parcel in North Dakota.

The town council of Caroline, NY, has reportedly voted against its own resolution that would have prevented a future ban on hydraulic fracturing in the community, located in Tompkins County in the Marcellus Shale play. The Ithaca Journal reported the town council nixed the resolution on July 12 by a 4-0 vote with one abstention.