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Published February 24, 2013, 12:00 AM

More about the proposed Calumet oil transfer terminal in Superior

Proposed Calumet oil transfer terminal in Superior would:

  • Cost $25 million to $30 million.

  • Be located at the former Georgia Pacific site.

  • Employ five to 15 people during the open-water shipping season.

  • Load about one tanker or barge every four days. Each tanker holds about 77,000 barrels (3.2 million gallons) of crude oil; each barge about 110,000 barrels (4.6 million gallons).

  • Open as early as March 2015 when that year’s shipping season begins.

  • Be considered a short-term windfall — about five to 10 years — until U.S. crude oil pipeline capacity increases.

  • Not be a new idea: Oil and gas have moved on the Great Lakes since at least the 1880s, as recently as 1992 in Superior, and currently are a major cargo in and out of other ports on the lakes.

  • Need several permits for dredging, pier repairs, storage tanks and vapor emissions.

  • Still need a customer. Calumet won’t build until it has one or more refineries, likely on the lower Great Lakes or East Coast, committed to buy the oil from North Dakota.

  • Cost $25 million to $30 million.

    About Calumet

    Indianapolis-based Calumet processes crude oil and other raw materials into lubricating oils, solvents and waxes used in consumer, industrial and automotive products — including Chapstick and WD-40. The company’s Superior refinery, acquired from Murphy Oil in 2011, was built in 1951 and now has 180 employees. It turns western crude oil into gasoline, diesel, kerosene, heating oil and asphalt. In addition to Superior, Calumet has 10 facilities in five states — Louisiana, Montana, Pennsylvania, Texas and Missouri. Calumet also is in the process of building a diesel fuel refinery near Dickinson, N.D., where, ironically, there is a shortage of truck fuel amid a glut of unrefined crude oil.

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