Oil Refinery for Elk Point -- Market Finally Kicks In

Better late than never: Hyperion Resources is finally gearing up to build a new oil refinery. Elk Point is one of the communities competing to draw this big-money, big-employment project (hence the hush-hush "Gorilla Project" we've been hearing about). Hyperion's project would be the first new oil refinery built in the US since the 1976.

With gas prices increasing over the past seven years, it's surprising market forces haven't driven some big investor to put up a new refinery sooner. Refineries are certainly profitable, and even if the big oil companies are enjoying higher profits by decreasing their production to drive up prices, one would think at least a handful of entrepreneurs would have leapt sooner at the chance to get in on the money by building some much needed new refining capacity.

Now let's see if Elk Point wins this refinery, and how much Elk Point benefits from hitching its economic hopes to the fossil-fuel industry.