BISMARCK, N.D. -- The chairman of the Three Affiliated Tribes says construction should start next spring on a $400 million oil refinery in North Dakota.
It would be the first one built in the United States in more than 30 years.
Tribal chairman Tex Hall says the tribe is financing the project with a bond sale. He's not expecting any problem selling the bonds to investors.
The U.S. Interior Department has agreed to put the refinery land into trust for the tribe's benefit. Hall says that was the last big step before the refinery can be built.
He says it will process about 20,000 barrels of oil each day and make gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel and naptha.
Hall says it's the biggest economic project in the history of the Three Affiliated Tribes.