Oneok Inc. plans to expand its Midcontinent NGL gathering system and its existing Sterling III pipeline.
The expansions, backed by a long-term contract with a subsidiary of EnLink Midstream Partners LP and EnLink Midstream LLC, will help accommodate expected volume growth from current and certain future EnLink gas processing plants in the STACK play in western Oklahoma along with expected growth from other customers in the region.
Expansions include increasing capacity on the Sterling III pipeline to 250,000 b/d from 190,000 b/d and connecting Oneok's Arbuckle pipeline to EnLink's Cajun-Sibon pipeline in southeast Texas. Oneok's Sterling III pipeline transports either unfractionated NGLs or NGL purity products between the firm's Midcontinent NGL infrastructure and similar facilities on the Gulf Coast in Mont Belvieu, Tex.
The firm expects to invest $130 million for the projects, which are expected to be complete by the end of 2018.
Oneok's NGL segment currently gathers 150,000-200,000 b/d of NGL out of the STACK and SCOOP plays and is connected to more than 100 third-party gas processing plants in the Midcontinent. The NGL volumes from EnLink plant connections and other production are part of an incremental 100,000 b/d of expected NGL supply out of the STACK and SCOOP that Oneok expects to add to its system by the end of 2018.
The firm also has entered into a long-term processing services agreement with a third party to gain access to an additional 200 MMcfd of gas processing capacity in the STACK and SCOOP. Oneok plans to connect its gas gathering system to the existing third-party gas processing facility in northern Oklahoma by constructing a 30-mile natural gas gathering pipeline and related infrastructure through the core of the STACK in Blaine County, Okla.
That pipeline is expected to cost $40 million and be completed by the end of 2017.
