TULSA, Okla., April 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS) today announced the completion of three natural gas gathering and processing and natural gas liquids capital-growth projects of approximately $1 billion. These completed projects are part of the partnership's previously announced $6.0 billion to $6.4 billion capital-growth program through 2016 and include:

• The Sterling III Pipeline, a 540-plus-mile, 16-inch diameter natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that transports either unfractionated NGLs or NGL purity products from the Mid-Continent region to the Texas Gulf Coast;
• The 200-million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) Canadian Valley natural gas processing facility and related infrastructure in the Cana-Woodford Shale in Oklahoma; and
• An ethane/propane (E/P) splitter at its Mont Belvieu, Texas, NGL storage facility.

"These investments continue to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to build the infrastructure necessary to better serve our producers and customers," said Terry K. Spencer, president and chief executive officer of ONEOK Partners. 

"Each of these projects integrates with our existing assets in the midstream value chain.  Their completion is a significant achievement that would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our employees, contractors and suppliers," Spencer added.

Sterling III Pipeline completed:

The Sterling III Pipeline has the capacity to transport 193,000 barrels per day (bpd) of either unfractionated NGLs or NGL purity products from the partnership's NGL infrastructure at Medford, Okla., to its storage and fractionation facilities at Mont Belvieu, Texas.

The partnership's existing Sterling I and II pipelines are being reconfigured to transport either unfractionated NGLs or NGL purity products, and are expected to be completed during the second quarter 2014.  The cost for the Sterling III Pipeline and these reconfigurations is approximately $760 million to $790 million.

"The Sterling III Pipeline is the partnership's fourth NGL pipeline connecting the Mid-Continent and Gulf Coast NGL market centers," Spencer said. "Its completion, combined with the reconfigurations of our existing Sterling I and II NGL pipelines, gives us additional operational flexibility and enables us to increase the flow of NGL volumes between these two important NGL market centers."

The Sterling III Pipeline traverses the NGL-rich Woodford Shale and provides transportation capacity for NGL production from the growing Cana-Woodford Shale and Granite Wash, where new natural gas processing plants are being built as a result of increased drilling activity in these areas.

Canadian Valley natural gas processing facility completed:

ONEOK Partners also completed construction of its new, 200-MMcf/d natural gas processing facility – the Canadian Valley plant – in the Cana-Woodford Shale area in Oklahoma. The cost for the Canadian Valley plant and related infrastructure is approximately $340 million to $360 million.

"The Canadian Valley plant is located in the heart of the NGL-rich Cana-Woodford Shale and is connected to the partnership's existing natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines," said Spencer.

"This new plant provides much needed natural gas processing capacity to handle growing volumes in this area.  In addition, natural gas liquids volumes produced from this new plant are expected to add incremental NGL volumes to our extensive Oklahoma natural gas liquids system."

The Canadian Valley plant will increase the partnership's natural gas processing capacity in Oklahoma to approximately 700 MMcf/d and is now the partnership's largest natural gas processing facility in Oklahoma.  

New E/P splitter at Mont Belvieu completed:

ONEOK Partners also completed a $46 million, 40,000-bpd E/P splitter at its Mont Belvieu NGL storage facility to split E/P mix into purity ethane and purity propane to meet the growing needs of petrochemical customers. The facility is capable of producing 32,000 bpd of purity ethane and 8,000 bpd of propane.

In addition to its previously announced $6.0 billion to $6.4 billion capital-growth program through 2016, the partnership has a $2 billion to $3 billion-plus backlog of unannounced growth projects that it continues to develop.  Additional projects included in this backlog will be announced when sufficient supply commitments are completed.

EDITOR'S NOTE: 

View a map of the completed projects. 

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ONEOK Partners, L.P. (pronounced ONE-OAK) (NYSE: OKS) is one of the largest publicly traded master limited partnerships in the United States 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 pure-play, publicly traded general partner, which owns 41.2 percent of the overall partnership interest as of Dec. 31, 2013. 

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

For the latest news about ONEOK Partners, follow us on Twitter @ONEOKPartners. 

Some of the statements contained and incorporated in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, as amended.  The forward-looking statements relate to the Sterling III pipeline, the completion of Canadian Valley natural gas processing facility, and the completion of a E/P splitter at Mont Belvieu, the other referenced infrastructure growth projects related to natural gas gathering and processing and natural gas liquids and the schedule and costs to complete the proposed projects and related infrastructure.  These forward-looking statements are made in reliance on the safe-harbor protections provided under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Forward-looking statements include the items identified in the preceding paragraph, the information concerning possible or assumed future results of our operations and other statements contained or incorporated in this news release identified by words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "should," "goal," "forecast," "guidance," "could," "may," "potential," "scheduled," and other words and terms of similar meaning.

You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Those factors may affect our operations, markets, products, services and prices. These and other risks are described in greater detail in Item 1A, Risk Factors, in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or change in circumstances, expectations or otherwise.

SOURCE ONEOK Partners, L.P.