Dakota

Regulatory and court challenges swirled around the four-state, 1,172-mile Dakota Access LLC oil pipeline project on Thursday, although for the most part construction aimed at completion by year-end continued.

Texas-based private equity firm Tailwater Capital LLC has expanded its energy-focused investments into the Bakken Shale in North Dakota with an $80 million investment in the fluids management portion of the play such as water handling and saltwater disposal.

While none of the flak is likely to unseat the proposed 1,172-mile oil pipeline from the Bakken in North Dakota to market hubs in Illinois, Iowa regulators on Friday reported continued complaints and grievances against the elongated construction route of the Dakota Access pipeline.

Dakota Access LLC and Energy Transfer Crude Oil Co. LLC (ETCO) are holding a binding supplemental open season for their respective pipeline systems, seeking commitments from shippers for transportation service to bring production in the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formation to market.

For the thousands of early, limited-stage hydraulically fractured (fracked) wells in North Dakota’s Bakken shale play, there is a large potential re-fracking market, and it could be boosted by a new technology using “diverters,” said to Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota’s Department of Mineral Resources.

A unit of San Antonio, TX-based Tesoro Corp. on Tuesday acquired the Dakota Prairie Refinery in the Bakken Shale play in North Dakota from a unit of Bismarck-based MDU Resources Group. The new refinery opened last year and was losing money for MDU.

A unit of Bismarck-based MDU Resources Group Inc. said Monday it plans to build a $50 million natural gas transmission pipeline to bring gas supplies to areas of eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota. An open season for the project will run through July 15.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP), sponsor of the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline to transport Bakken Shale crude oil, was accused by an Iowa regulator of not fulfilling some conditions imposed by the state in approving a route.

Bismarck, ND-based MDU Resources Group is considering a sale of its interest in a new Bakken Shale-based diesel refinery in North Dakota that began operations last year only to hit the wall in the first quarter due to depressed drilling activity.