ONEOK Partners, a natural gas distributor in the US, said that it intends to invest between $595m and $730m in natural gas liquids (NGL) projects between now and 2013.
The company said the cost estimates for the new projects include $450-$550m for Bakken NGL Pipeline; $35m to $40m for related expansions of Mid-Continent Fractionator and Overland Pass Pipeline; and $110m to $140m to expand the partnership’s fractionation capacity at Bushton, Kansas.
The company said that the proposed Bakken Pipeline will initially transport up to 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of unfractionated NGL production from ONEOK Partners’ extensive natural gas gathering and processing assets in the Bakken Shale and from third-party natural gas processing plants south through western North Dakota and eastern Montana to Wyoming, where it will connect to the Overland Pass Pipeline near Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Terry Spencer, chief operating officer of ONEOK Partners, said: “As producers continue to aggressively develop NGL-rich natural gas production from crude oil-producing wells in the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formations, natural gas liquids takeaway capacity is required.”