Oneok to add gas processing, transportation in North Dakota, Wyoming

Oneok Partners LP, Tulsa, reported on plans to invest $480-680 million between now and the end of third-quarter 2016 to construct natural gas processing facilities and related systems in North Dakota and Wyoming.

Oneok says it will build one of the gas processing facilities—to be called the Bear Creek plant—and related systems in northwest Dunn County, ND. The plant will have the capacity to process 80 MMcfd of gas produced from the Bakken shale in the Williston basin. The plant is expected to cost $265-375 million to build, and is expected to be completed by second-quarter 2016. Oneok says $130-190 million will be spent for construction of the facility and $135-185 million will be spent for construction of related gas and NGL systems.

The Bear Creek plant will be built near existing Oneok gas gathering, compression, and residue takeaway systems in Dunn County, and will alleviate pipeline inefficiencies in an area challenged by geographical constraints and severe terrain, the company said.

The second facility, to be called the Bronco plant and built in southern Campbell County, Wyo., will have the capacity to process 100 MMcfd of gas produced from the natural gas liquids-rich Turner, Frontier, Sussex, and Niobrara shale formations in the Powder River basin.

The Bronco facility is expected to cost $215-305 million to build, and is expected to be completed by third-quarter 2016. Oneok says it will spend $130-190 million to build the facility; $45-60 million to build a 65-mile, 10-in. NGL pipeline to connect the facility to Oneok’s Bakken NGL pipeline lateral, currently under construction; and $40-55 million to build related gas systems.

Since 2010, Oneok has constructed, or is constructing, 11 gas processing plants and related gas gathering systems across its operating footprint including eight in the Williston basin.

Oneok’s Williston basin gas processing capacity is expected to increase to 1.2 bcfd in 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-MMcfd processing facility in McKenzie County, ND, which is expected to be completed in this year’s fourth quarter (OGJ Online, Jan. 18, 2013).

• The Lonesome Creek plant, a 200-MMcfd processing facility in McKenzie County, which is expected to be completed in fourth-quarter 2015 (OGJ Online, Nov. 20, 2013).

• The Demicks Lake plant, a 200-MMcfd processing facility in McKenzie County, which is expected to be completed third-quarter 2016.

• The construction of additional gas compression to take advantage of additional processing capacity as a result of better-than-expected plant performance at Oneok’s existing and planned Garden Creek and Stateline processing plants in the Williston basin by a total of 100 MMcfd, which is expected to be completed in fourth-quarter 2015.