Goff

Even with price differentials tightening, Bakken crude oil from North Dakota is going to continue to be attractive to West Coast refineries, the CEO of San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. said Thursday during earnings conference calls for the refiner and midstream logistics operator.

Coming off the closing last month of a $2.5 billion merger with Denver-based QEP Midstream Partners LP, Tesoro Logistics LP (TLLP) is still looking for more acquisitions in the West, expanding in both the Pinedale and Uinta plays, and waiting for producers to seek more gas-gathering infrastructure in the Bakken.

While they are seeing various producers adjusting or delaying capital spending plans in the face of the depressed crude oil prices, senior executives at San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. and its midstream unit, Tesoro Logistics LP (TLLP), refused to blink on Thursday in talking about 2014 results and Tesoro’s plans for this year during an earnings conference call.

The growth of domestic U.S. oil production from places like the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and the Uinta Basin in Utah will continue to boost growth of West Coast refining and crude rail operations, according to San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. CEO Greg Goff.