U.S. shale player ONEOK resilient

U.S. shale player ONEOK said it expects substantial and ongoing growth for its operations moving forward despite a volatile commodity environment.

ONEOK said it expected its adjusted earnings to increase 19 percent to move close to $2 billion next year. Terry Spencer, the company's president and chief executive officer, said the company would draw from the $3 billion in capital growth projects in various stages of construction.

"Although the commodity price environment remains volatile, we expect strong volume growth to continue in 2015 as many of our key producers plan to concentrate their drilling in more productive core areas on acreage dedicated to our systems," he said in a Tuesday statement.

Last month, the company said its net income year-to-date was $219.6 million, a 25 percent increase from the same period last year.

It's been busy planning to add natural gas infrastructure to its operations in North Dakota. Most of the gas associated with North Dakota's oil deposits is burned off, or flared, because of there are few means for getting the reserves to market.

In October, the company 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.

Global crude oil prices are falling to the point that some shale produces may not get the capital support they need to continue drilling. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said, however, that even though oil prices are at historic lows, its survey of 30 publicly traded companies found improved financial results despite the bear market for crude oil.