ONEOK Partners Announces Completion of Growth Projects

TULSA, Okla., April 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS) today announced the completion of three projects that are part of its previously announced $4.7 billion to $5.3 billion growth program through 2015, including:

• The Bakken NGL Pipeline that transports unfractionated natural gas liquids (NGLs) from the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formations in the Williston Basin to the partnership's 50 percent-owned Overland Pass Pipeline, a 760-mile NGL pipeline extending from southern Wyoming to Conway, Kan.;
• The Stateline II natural gas processing facility in western Williams County, N.D.; and
• An ethane header pipeline that creates a new point of interconnection between the partnership's Mont Belvieu, Texas, NGL fractionation assets and several petrochemical customers.

"These investments demonstrate our ongoing commitment to build the necessary natural gas and NGL infrastructure to better serve our producers and customers," said Terry K. Spencer, president of ONEOK Partners.  "We completed each of these projects on time and on budget, and the assets now are delivering essential services to our producers and customers."

Bakken NGL Pipeline completed:
The Bakken NGL Pipeline is a $450 million to $550 million, 600-mile pipeline with the capacity to transport 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of unfractionated NGLs from ONEOK Partners' natural gas processing plants and from third-party natural gas processing plants in the Williston Basin to an interconnection with the partnership's 50 percent-owned Overland Pass Pipeline in northern Colorado.  The NGL volumes are then delivered to ONEOK Partners' Mid-Continent NGL fractionation and storage facilities in central Kansas.

"The Bakken NGL Pipeline is the first pipeline to transport natural gas liquids from the Williston Basin to NGL fractionation and storage infrastructure in the Mid-Continent and Texas Gulf Coast," said Spencer.  "This project and our continued investments in the Williston Basin reflect our commitment to provide producers with the essential NGL infrastructure needed as they continue to develop the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formations."

In July 2012, the partnership announced plans to invest approximately $100 million to install additional pump stations on the Bakken NGL Pipeline, which will increase its capacity to 135,000 bpd from 60,000 bpd.  This expansion is expected to be completed in the third quarter 2014.

Stateline II natural gas processing facility completed:
ONEOK Partners has begun operating its new $135 million to $150 million, 100-million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) natural gas processing facility in western Williams County in North Dakota – the Stateline II plant. 

The Stateline II plant is the third new natural gas processing facility that ONEOK Partners has completed in the Williston Basin since late 2011, joining the Garden Creek and Stateline I plants that are now processing natural gas and increasing its current processing capacity in the region to 390 MMcf/d from 90 MMcf/d in 2011.

"The completion of Stateline II, along with our other two plants and associated infrastructure that are operational, will reduce the flaring of natural gas in the region, enabling producers to deliver natural gas to customers and improve the environment," Spencer added. 

The partnership previously announced that it will invest $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion for natural gas gathering and processing projects in the Williston Basin from 2011 through 2015, including the Garden Creek II and III plants in eastern McKenzie, N.D., which are expected to be in service in the third quarter 2014 and the first quarter 2015, respectively, and will increase the partnership's natural gas processing capacity in the region to 590 MMcf/d. 

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 5,000 miles and acreage dedications of approximately 3.1 million acres.

New ethane header pipeline completed:
ONEOK Partners also completed a 12-inch diameter ethane header pipeline that creates a new point of interconnection between the partnership's Mont Belvieu, Texas, NGL fractionation assets and several petrochemical customers.  The $23 million pipeline is backed by contractual commitments with several petrochemical companies.

The new pipeline is capable of transporting 400,000 bpd of purity ethane from the partnership's 80 percent-owned, 160,000-bpd MB-1 fractionator; the partnership's two 100 percent-owned, 75,000-bpd MB-2 and MB-3 fractionators that are under construction and scheduled for completion in the third quarter 2013 and the fourth quarter 2014, respectively; and the partnership's previously announced new E/P splitter that has the capacity to produce 32,000 bpd of purity ethane and 8,000 bpd of propane and is expected to be in service during the second quarter 2014. 

"This header pipeline will allow us to meet the growing needs of our petrochemical customers in the area by providing them with direct access to purity ethane supply," said Spencer.  "It also will improve our operational flexibility and reliability, while providing increased fee-based revenues to the partnership."

The Bakken NGL Pipeline, Stateline II plant and Mont Belvieu ethane pipeline are part of ONEOK Partners' previously announced $4.7 billion to $5.3 billion growth program through 2015.

The partnership has a $2 billion-plus backlog of unannounced growth projects that it continues to evaluate.  Additional projects included in this backlog will be announced when sufficient supply commitments are completed.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  View a map of the completed Bakken NGL Pipeline. 

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. 

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 Bakken NGL pipeline, the construction of the new Garden Creek II and III natural gas processing facilities, the construction of the new MB-2 and MB-3 NGL fractionators, the construction 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.