ONEOK Inc., Tulsa, Okla., is adding natural gas processing capacity to its Permian basin operations. Alongside relocation of an existing 150-MMcfd gas plant from North Texas to the Permian’s Midland basin, the operator’s Delaware basin growth plans include construction of a 300-MMcfd grassroots plant and 75-MMcfd of “low-cost expansion” via upgrades to unspecified ONEOK “existing Delaware facilities,” said Sheridan Schwartz, ONEOK’s chief commercial officer and executive vice-president.
The company has taken final investment decision on the proposed 300-MMcfd Bighorn plant and associated treater. The $365-million plant will be equipped to treat gas volumes with high concentrations of carbon dioxide, Schwartz said.
Backed by acreage dedication agreements, the Bighorn plant is scheduled for completion in mid-2027.
Combined, the proposed Bighorn plant and low-cost expansions at existing operations aim to boost ONEOK’s gas processing capacity in Delaware basin to 1.1 bcfd from the company’s current capacity of about 700 MMcfd, according to Schwartz.
ONEOK’s growth plans in Delaware basin follow the operator’s acquisition of the remaining 49.9% interest in Delaware G&P LLC joint venture (JV) from NGP XI Midstream Holdings LLC earlier this year in a deal giving ONEOK sole ownership of the JV’s Delaware basin-based natural gas gathering and processing infrastructure in West Texas and New Mexico (OGJ Online, June 3, 2025).
The planned relocation of the existing North Texas plant to Midland basin is scheduled to be completed during first-quarter 2026, the company’s second-quarter 2025 earnings presentation showed.
“The Permian [b]asin continues to be a key area of strategic growth for us, and we will continue to be actively engaged in…assessing opportunities to expand and enhance our integrated operations within the basin,” Schwartz said.
At the end of second-quarter 2025, ONEOK’s average process volumes of natural gas across its Permian operations stood at 1.48 MMcfd, up from 1.42 MMcfd at the end of first-quarter 2025, according to the earnings presentation.
