ONEOK To Invest Another $150 Million in the Bakken -- North Dakota, USA

This is a huge story. ONEOK has already invested $1.8 billion in the Bakken and now they plan to invest more.

1. Natural gas is said to account for three (3) percent of the economic activity in the Bakken. Three percent, and ONEOK is investing close to $2 billion on just part of the natural gas play in the Williston Basin.

2. The new ONEOK investment is well north of Williston; this area seemed to be at the fringe of the Williston Basin, but it certainly appears that sitting between activity in the center of North Dakota activity and Canada's Saskatchewan play suggests that Divide County may be a bit more interesting than originally thought.

3. ONEOK continues to work the "flaring issue." Good for them.

Link here to press release.

ONEOK Partners, L.P. today announced plans to invest another $140 million to $160 million to construct a 270-mile natural gas gathering system and related infrastructure in Divide County, N.D.

The new system, which is expected to be completed in the second half of 2013, will gather and deliver natural gas from producers in the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin to the partnership's previously announced 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) Stateline II natural gas processing facility in western Williams County, N.D. The Stateline II plant is expected to be in service in the first half of 2013.  The partnership has secured long-term supply commitments from producers structured with percent-of-proceeds and fee-based components.

In addition to the Divide County natural gas gathering system, ONEOK Partners previously announced it will invest approximately $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion for growth projects in the Bakken Shale between 2011 and 2014 in its natural gas gathering and processing and natural gas liquids (NGL) businesses.  These investments include the construction of an approximately 500-mile NGL pipeline – the Bakken Pipeline – and three 100 MMcf/d natural gas processing facilities including the Garden Creek plant, Stateline I plant and Stateline II plant.  The Garden Creek plant went into service in December 2011.

With the completion of the Divide County natural gas gathering system, the partnership will have installed the necessary natural gas gathering infrastructure sufficient to fill all four of the partnership's natural gas processing plants in the Bakken Shale and Three Forks regions.

ONEOK Partners is the largest independent operator of natural gas gathering and processing facilities in the Williston Basin, with a natural gas gathering system of more than 3,500 miles and acreage dedications of more than 2.2 million acres.

Truly incredible.