Marathon Petroleum’s 68,000 barrel per day crude oil refinery went under maintenance earlier this month, putting downward pressure on Bakken oil prices, a state regulator said during a press conference on Friday.
All units at the Mandan refinery are currently under maintenance, according to Justin J. Kringstad, director of the North Dakota pipeline authority.
Marathon declined to discuss refinery operations on Friday.
The Mandan refinery is North Dakota’s only crude processing facility and the dip in demand has pressured Bakken oil prices, according to Kringstad.
Clearbrook prices as of mid-June are at a 16 cents discount to WTI, compared with a 40 cent premium to WTI in mid-May, according to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston and Nicole Jao in New York; Editing by Alexander Smith)