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ONEOK Partners Plans Natural Gas Processing Plants In North Dakota And Wyoming

09/22/2014
ONEOK Partners, L.P. plans to invest approximately $480 million to $680 million between now and the end of the third quarter 2016 to construct natural gas processing facilities in Dunn County, North Dakota and Campbell County, Wyoming.

The firm plans to build a new 80-million cubic feet per day natural gas processing facility – the Bear Creek plant – and related infrastructure in northwest Dunn County, North Dakota, which will process natural gas produced from the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin.

The partners will also construct a new 100-MMcf/d natural gas processing facility – the Bronco plant – and related infrastructure in southern Campbell County, Wyoming, which will process natural gas produced from the NGL-rich Turner, Frontier, Sussex and Niobrara Shale formations in the Powder River Basin.

"In 2014, the partnership has announced $1.5 billion to $1.9 billion in capital-growth projects – a continuation of our $7.5 billion to $8.2 billion capital-growth program planned through 2016," said Terry K. Spencer, President/CEO of ONEOK Partners. "The Bear Creek and Bronco plants will increase our natural gas processing capacity across our operating footprint by 180 MMcf/d and add additional natural gas and natural gas liquids volumes on our systems. These projects further demonstrate the value of the partnership's integrated operations that allows us to better serve area producers."

The partnership said it has strategically positioned capital-growth projects in multiple high-growth NGL-rich areas, including the Williston Basin, the Powder River Basin, and the Cana-Woodford and SCOOP plays in Oklahoma resulting in increased natural gas processing capacity across the partnership's operating footprint.

The Bear Creek natural gas processing plant, an 80-MMcf/d facility, and related infrastructure are expected to cost approximately $265 million to $375 million and be completed during the second quarter 2016, and include: $130 million to $190 million for the construction of the Bear Creek natural gas processing plant; and $135 million to $185 million for the construction of related natural gas and natural gas liquids infrastructure.

"The Bear Creek plant will be built near existing ONEOK Partners natural gas gathering, compression and residue takeaway infrastructure in Dunn County and will alleviate pipeline inefficiencies in an area challenged by geographical constraints and severe terrain," said Spencer.

"The 80-MMcf/d Bear Creek plant allows us to respond more quickly to accommodate our customers' growing crude-oil and natural gas production on acreage dedicated to us in the area. The construction of this facility, along with previously announced capital-growth projects, shows our continued commitment to building critical natural gas infrastructure in North Dakota in an effort to meet the industry goal of reducing natural gas flaring to 5 to 10 percent of total production by the fourth quarter 2020."

The partnership's Williston Basin natural gas processing capacity is expected to increase to approximately 1.2 billion cubic feet per day in the third quarter 2016 following the completion of the Bear Creek plant and the completion of previously announced projects in the region, including:

The Garden Creek III plant, a 100-MMcf/d natural gas processing facility in McKenzie County, North Dakota, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter 2014;

The Lonesome Creek plant, a 200-MMcf/d natural gas processing facility in the McKenzie County, North Dakota, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter 2015;

The Demicks Lake plant, a 200-MMcf/d natural gas processing facility in McKenzie County, North Dakota, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter 2016; and

The construction of additional natural gas compression to take advantage of additional natural gas processing capacity as a result of better than expected plant performance at the partnership's existing and planned Garden Creek and Stateline natural gas processing plants in the Williston Basin by a total of 100 MMcf/d, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter 2015.

The Bronco natural gas processing plant, a 100-MMcf/d facility, and related infrastructure are expected to cost approximately $215 million to $305 million and be completed during the third quarter 2016, and include:

$130 million to $190 million for the construction of the Bronco natural gas processing plant;

$45 million to $60 million for construction of a 65-mile, 10-inch NGL pipeline to connect the Bronco Plant to ONEOK

Partners' Bakken NGL Pipeline lateral, currently under construction; and

$40 million to $55 million for the construction of related natural gas infrastructure.

"The Bronco plant will expand the partnership's natural gas gathering and processing and NGL gathering infrastructure in Campbell and Converse Counties, Wyoming, and is supported by long-term dedications of more than 130,000 net acres," said Spencer. "Last year, the partnership acquired the 50-MMcf/d Sage Creek plant, and the Bronco plant will provide ONEOK Partners with additional natural gas processing capacity in a region poised for significant growth in natural gas and NGL production volumes."

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