BP may ship Bakken crude to Washington St. refinery via rail

HOUSTON, July 27 (Reuters) - BP Plc may build a railroad loading system at its Pacific Northwest refinery to ship cheap Bakken crude oil from North Dakota and Montana in place of some Alaskan North Slope crude currently processed there, a company spokesman said.

"Yes, we are considering a rail project at Cherry Point," spokesman Michael Abendhoff said, referring to the 225,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery in Cherry Point, Washington.

He said the project would allow BP to bring in Bakken crude and export diesel, liquid petroleum gas and calcined coke.

"If we decide to move forward, we would begin the permitting process sometime in August," Abendhoff said.