The Good News Does Not Quit: Now ONEOK Announces Plans to Invest Another $300 Million in the Bakken

Note: when I first posted the story below, I was just thinking about the huge investment that ONEOK is making in North Dakota. In fact, it's even more exciting than that for some folks. This investment is literally going to take place in just a few western counties. It looks like Williams and McKenzie counties will be the biggest recipients of this ONEOK investment.

Original Blog

In the last fifteen minutes I have been posting as fast as I can. I was substitute teaching today and not able to post until now.

I thought it would be a slow day in the oil patch. Wow, was I surprised.

BEXP announces two great wells, one each in the Three Forks Sanish and in the middle Bakken.

NDIC announces twelve (12) more permits.

I see evidence of consolidation in the Bakken: BEXP obtains more core acreage, through a deal with Zavanna.

I have yet to post General Electric's newest wrinkle with regard to fracturing.

Now, The ONEOK Story

And now this: ONEOK announces ... drum roll ... drum roll ... that it plans to invest more than $300 million in additional growth projects in the Bakken.

I may be confused, it gets difficult keeping up with all this, but if I'm correct, this is what I see regarding ONEOK:

• $175 million natural gas processing project near Watford City, announced September, 2010, to be operation by December 2011;
• $205 million natural gas processing plant -- Stateline I -- in "western Williams County, to process another 100 million cubic feet per day;
• $90 million more for expansions and upgrades ot its existing gathering and compression infrastructure
• $60 million more in 2011 and 2012 for new well connections adjacent to the Stateline I facility
• Another natural gas processing plant, Stateline II, is being evaluated and could add another 100 million cubic feet per day of capacity if additional volumes become available for processing
• I may be wrong on how I read this press release, but that's what I see. 

And all of this on top of ONEOK's earlier announcement of $700 million:

In July 2010 the partnership announced approximately $700 million for natural gas liquids growth projects in the region.  Included is the construction of a 525- to 615-mile NGL pipeline that will have the capacity to transport 60,000 barrels per day of unfractionated NGLs from the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin in North Dakota to the partnership's 50-percent interest in Overland Pass Pipeline; related capacity expansions for the Overland Pass Pipeline; and expansion of the partnership's fractionation capacity at Bushton, Kansas.  

Note: less than 24 hours after posting this, this story is a front-page story in the Bismarck Tribune. Yes, it's a very, very big deal.

MDU is THE natural gas company and utility in North Dakota and headquartered in Bismarck. I am eager to see their quarterly and annual report to see what they are doing.