Vepica and BASIC Equipment Selected by Meridian Energy to Study North Dakota Refinery

HOUSTON, Dec. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Vepica, a multinational engineering firm specializing in the energy industry, and Houston-based BASIC Equipment today announced that they have been selected by Irvine, California's Meridian Energy Group (Meridian) to perform a series of engineering studies to define the design basis, costs and schedule for the Davis Refinery, a high-conversion crude oil refinery to be constructed in Southwestern North Dakota, that will serve Bakken crude oil producers and local liquid fuels and chemicals markets. The Davis Refinery will be only the second "greenfield" refinery constructed in the U.S. since 1976.

According to Meridian, the combination of Vepica's expertise in refinery engineering, coupled with BASIC's background in fabrication and turn-key design-construction, will be decisive in establishing substantial competitive advantages for the Davis Refinery.

Upon completion of these studies, Meridian, with BASIC's and Vepica's support, will complete its permitting and approval requirements, finalize its full project financing, and make final announcements regarding the commencement of detailed design, procurement, construction and startup of the Davis Refinery.

Founded in 1972, Vepica is differentiated by its willingness to share risk with clients, its ability to competitively bring highly specialized talent and processes to its projects, and other added-value features including working under lump sum and turn-key arrangements from concept through construction, and in special cases providing project financing.

"Ensuring more certainty in both cost and schedule have been hallmarks of our approach and part of an offering, which is highly relevant in today's economic environment, particularly in major heavy oil and gas projects," said Franklin Espica, Vepica's VP of International Business Development.

About Meridian – Meridian Energy Group, Inc. (www.meridianenergygroupinc.com) is a South Dakota corporation formed to build and operate the Davis Refinery, a crude oil refining facility to be located on a 620 acre site near Belfield, North Dakota, in the heart of the Bakken. The Davis Refinery will be an approximately 55,000 barrels per standard day (bpsd) crude oil refinery that will produce a full slate of refined products and specialty chemicals. Meridian has recently initiated a series of scoping and optimization studies based on the crude assays provided by the company's likely tolling partners, and expects to begin detailed design engineering and submit permit applications early in the first quarter of 2016. The Company anticipates that the refinery will be in operation in 2018.

About BASIC – Founded in 1989, BASIC Equipment, is a fully integrated design, construction and logistics firm serving the oil and gas, refining, petrochemical and specialty process industries worldwide. Structured to fill a unique role for its clients, BASIC is large enough to offer a full range of services, yet small enough to ensure that every project receives the personal attention it deserves. BASIC has also proven its capability on larger and more complex facilities, having recently completed the design, installation, construction and startup of a 25,000 barrel per day crude topping unit located on the Houston ship channel in a total schedule of 18 months.

About Vepica – Incorporated in Spain, and with operations in Canada, China, Colombia, Mexico, the U.S. and Venezuela, privately held Vepica is a multinational engineering firm specializing in the energy industry. Named among the (ENR) Top 225 International Design Firms for three consecutive years from 2013 to 2015, Vepica provides EPC, engineering, inspection/O&M and environmental services to the oil and gas, alternative energy, chemical, power generation, infrastructure, transportation, mining and telecommunications industries. Founded in 1972, Vepica today has over 2,000 employees and counts more than 37 million man-hours and 3,500 engineering projects on four continents to its credit. For more information, visit Vepica.com.

SOURCE Vepica

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