ONEOK Partners Subsidiaries Seek Ruling On Regulatory Agency Jurisdiction

TULSA, Okla., Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS) today announced that three of its subsidiaries have filed a declaratory judgment action in federal District Court in Tulsa, Okla., seeking a ruling on the jurisdictional limits of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

The action asks the court to rule on the extent of PHMSA's regulatory jurisdiction over ONEOK Partners' natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation plant, associated storage and in-plant piping systems in Bushton, Kan., and requests a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to delay a scheduled PHMSA inspection of this plant until a decision is made resolving the jurisdictional boundary issue.  

"This filing is an effort to resolve an ongoing disagreement over the extent of PHMSA's jurisdictional boundaries at our Bushton NGL fractionation plant," said Pierce H. Norton , executive vice president and chief operating officer of ONEOK Partners. "Although PHMSA has jurisdiction over our pipeline systems into and out of the plant, the Bushton NGL fractionation plant is regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"We believe PHMSA is outside its jurisdictional authority by inspecting and attempting to impose different regulations on the assets and operating procedures currently regulated by OSHA and the EPA.   We believe that having different rules within the same plant could result in misinterpretation and confusion," added Norton.

The partnership remains committed to safe, reliable and compliant operations of its facilities.

ONEOK Partners, L.P. (pronounced ONE-OAK) (NYSE: OKS) is one of the largest publicly traded master limited partnerships, and is a leader in the gathering, processing, storage and transportation of natural gas in the U.S. and owns one of the nation's premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions with key market centers. Its general partner is a wholly owned subsidiary of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE), a diversified energy company, which owns 43.4 percent of the overall partnership interest. ONEOK is one of the largest natural gas distributors in the United States, and its energy services operation focuses primarily on marketing natural gas and related services throughout the U.S. 

For more information, visit the website at www.oneokpartners.com.

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SOURCE ONEOK Partners, L.P.

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