Montana Oil Production
Oil production in the Bakken Formation of eastern Montana has been one of the nation’s hottest oil plays in the last decade. Between 2004 and 2007 Montana’s oil production increased by 42% with a peak production in 2006 of 36.2 million barrels. The world-wide economic downturn that began in late 2008 has caused production to decrease as energy demand had diminished. As a result Bakken production has declined to 27.7 million barrels in 2009. Horizontal drilling and well fracturing technology have made possible the extraction of this light sweet crude held tightly in the Bakken shale. And this play could last many years because according to a USGS report released in April, 2008, technically recoverable reserves in the Bakken formation of Montana and North Dakota are estimated to be in a range of 3.4 to 4.3 billion barrels. The development of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline along with a proposed 100,000 barrel per day “on-ramp” near Baker will provide improved market access to Montana oil producers
Montana Refining Company
The 10,000 barrel per day Montana Refining Co. oil refinery in Great Falls, was purchased by Connacher Oil and Gas of Calgary in 2006 and since then has been upgraded with approximately $100 million in improvements to the boiler fuel system to reduce sulfur emissions, improvements to the wastewater treatment system, efficiency upgrades to reduce production obstacles and plans to increase hydrogen plant capabilities used to strip sulfur out of the heavy crude. The plant currently employees nearly 100 people and has provided jet fuel to Presidential aircraft, including Air Force One.
CHS Refinery, Laurel
A $400 million upgrade at the CHS Refinery completed in May 2008 has increased the Laurel refinery's gasoline and diesel fuel production by 20 percent, even though the refinery continues to process the same amount of crude oil of around 60,000 barrels per day. The project has created 35 new full-time jobs with an additional annual payroll of $3.5 million. The company completed a $50 million benzene process upgrade that was completed in the fall of 2010.
EXXON/MOBIL
According to company officials $90 million has been spent on the refinery since 2005.
ConocoPhillips
The Conoco Phillips refinery has undergone $500 million in improvements since November of 2006 and the company indicates that another $500 million will be spent in the future on improvements. These improvements have received appropriate state permits. A $50 million dollar upgrade to coker drums at the refinery is currently underway with the recent issuance of permits to allow the oversized loads to travel through Idaho. In addition, the ConocoPhillips refinery was the first Energy Star certified refinery in the world.
