ONEOK restarts construction on gas projects

ONEOK estimates the 200-MMcf/d Demicks Lake III natural gas processing plant in McKenzie County, North Dakota will cost about $140 million to complete.

ONEOK announced plans to complete a 200 MMcf/d natural gas processing facility in the Williston Basin and a 125,000 b/d natural as liquids fractionator in Mont Belvieu, Texas.

ONEOK had previously announced the Demicks Lake III natural gas processing facility and MB-5, the NGL fractionator in Mont Belvieu, Texas.

“Increasing producer activity and improving demand for natural gas and NGLs drove the decision to restart these attractive return projects,” said Pierce H. Norton II, ONEOK president and CEO. “We continue to align our capital investments with our customers’ needs and expectations, and remain focused on further enhancing the reliability of our infrastructure.

“Demicks Lake III will support producer development plans in the core of the Williston Basin while continuing our commitment to help customers reduce natural gas flaring and MB-5 will accommodate NGL volume growth from across our operations, including the Rocky Mountain region and Permian Basin.”

The remaining capital investment necessary to complete these projects is significantly less than building greenfield facilities, and will provide needed capacity at an attractive return on invested capital.

ONEOK estimates the 200-MMcf/d Demicks Lake III natural gas processing plant in McKenzie County, North Dakota will cost about $140 million to complete. The facility, which is supported by acreage dedications with primarily fee-based contracts, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2023.

The new plant will increase ONEOK’s Williston Basin natural gas processing capacity to approximately 1.9 billion cubic feet per day.

The 125,000 bpd MB-5 fractionator in Mont Belvieu, Texas, is fully contracted and expected to cost approximately $250 million to complete. The facility is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2023 and will increase ONEOK’s total NGL fractionation capacity to more than 1 million bpd.