ONEOK boasts of shale gas infrastructure

Midstream energy company ONEOK said third quarter 2014 was buoyed by the addition of infrastructure meant to deliver gas from shale basins in the Great Plains.

ONEOK, which has headquarters in Oklahoma, last week paid more than $800 million to acquire more than 2,000 miles of gas pipelines extending from the Permian basin in southeastern New Mexico and East Texas from Chevron Corp. affiliates. Further north, it also said an expansion of its Bakken NGL pipeline was completed in North Dakota, increasing the capacity by more than half to 135,000 barrels of unfractioned natural gas liquids, like butane and propane.

President and Chief Executive Officer Terry Spencer said in a statement his company continues to maximize cash flow with the help of new natural gas processing facilities in North Dakota and southern U.S. states, giving it a "significant" presence in some of the richest shale basins in the United States.

Production from shale is setting records, though gas output from North Dakota in particular is inhibited because the state lacks the infrastructure needed to utilize the gas associated with oil deposits in the Bakken formation. Much of the gas is burned off, or flared, as a consequence.

ONEOK said its net income year-to-date was $219.6 million, a 25 percent increase from the same period last year. The company's operating costs, however, increased 32 percent year-on-year, "primarily as a result of the completed capital-growth projects."