ONEOK to invest big on shale gas processing

Energy company ONEOK said it plans to invest at least $480 million on shale natural gas processing infrastructure in North Dakota and Wyoming.

ONEOK said it would invest between $480 million and $680 million between now and late 2016 to expand gas processing capabilities and associated infrastructure in the Bakken and Niobrara shale formations.

A facility in Dunn County, N.D., would be able to process 80 million cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Bakken shale formation in the state.

North Dakota lags behind other oil-producing states in gas utilization, but set a goal of capturing 90 percent of associated gas within six years.

ONEOK said it's built 11 new natural gas processing plants since 2010, including eight in the Bakken region of North Dakota. The company says its gas processing capacity in the region should increase by more than tenfold by the end of 2016.

In the Niobrara shale, the company said it would build its Bronco plant, a facility in Campbell County, Wyo., that will have the capacity to process 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.