ONEOK Partners LP announced plans to invest between $605 million and $785 million from 2014 through the end of third-quarter 2016 to reduce natural gas flaring in North Dakota, the company said in a statement on June 30.

The investment will include:

  • Construction of a new 200 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) gas processing facility called the Demicks Lake plant in northeast McKenzie County, N.D., which will process natural gas produced from the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin;
  • Building additional natural gas compression to take advantage of additional gas processing capacity at ONEOK Partners’ existing and planned Garden Creek and Stateline gas processing plants in the Williston Basin by a total of 100 MMcf/d; and
  • Constructing about 12 miles of NGL gathering pipeline from the Demicks Lake plant to ONEOK Partners’ existing Bakken NGL Pipeline.

“The Demicks Lake plant and additional natural gas compression will increase our natural gas processing capacity in areas that continue to be developed aggressively by crude oil and natural gas producers,” said Terry K. Spencer, president and CEO of ONEOK Partners. “The additional 300 MMcf/d in the Williston Basin will increase our natural gas processing capacity to approximately 1.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in the region. Pending board approval, we expect to announce additional Williston Basin natural gas processing capacity by the end of this year.”

The Demicks Lake plant and related infrastructure are expected to cost about $515 million to $670 million and be completed during third-quarter 2016, and include:

  • $330 million to $430 million for the construction of the Demicks Lake plant; and
  • $185 million to $240 million for the construction of related natural gas infrastructure, including natural gas gathering pipelines and natural gas compression.

“Crude oil and natural gas production in the Williston Basin continues to increase, and we remain committed to building essential natural gas gathering and processing infrastructure that will enable producers to capture and process these growing volumes and reduce natural gas flaring in North Dakota,” said Spencer. “With an industry goal to reduce natural gas flaring to 5% to 10% of total production in 2020 in North Dakota, we will continue to commit resources to building critical infrastructure to meet this goal. The completion of the Demicks Lake natural gas processing plant, combined with our Garden Creek II and III and Lonesome Creek natural gas processing plants currently in various stages of construction, further demonstrate our commitment to this cause.”

When completed, the Demicks Lake natural gas processing plant will be ONEOK Partners’ second 200-MMcf/d plant in the region. In November 2013, the partnership announced plans to construct the Lonesome Creek plant, a 200 MMcf/d natural gas processing facility, expected to be completed in fourth-quarter 2015.

ONEOK Partners will also invest about $80 million to $100 million to build additional natural gas compression to take advantage of additional natural gas processing capacity at its Garden Creek, Garden Creek II and III and Stateline I and II natural gas processing facilities. This is scheduled for completion during fourth-quarter 2015.

In addition, the NGL segment will invest $10 million to $15 million to build about 12 miles of NGL gathering pipeline connecting the Demicks Lake plant to the partnership's Bakken NGL Pipeline. The pipeline expansion is scheduled for completion during third-quarter 2016.