ONEOK Partners cancels Bakken Shale oil pipeline
BY ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
11/27/12 at 4:32 PM
Tulsa-based ONEOK Partners LP announced Tuesday it will not build the planned Bakken Crude Express Pipeline from North Dakota to Oklahoma due to a lack of long-term commitments by oil producers.
The 1,300-mile project was going to be natural gas-focused ONEOK Partner's entry into the booming U.S. crude oil infrastructure market. The Williston Basin and Bakken Shale in North Dakota is considered the nation’s top domestic oil play.
“Despite the robust outlook for crude-oil supply growth in the Williston Basin in the Bakken Shale, we did not receive sufficient long-term commitments under the terms we needed to construct the Bakken Crude Express Pipeline,” said Terry K. Spencer, ONEOK Partners president. “While we are disappointed with the results of the open season, we remain committed to serving Williston Basin producers for their natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude-oil infrastructure needs.”
ONEOK Partners may not build the $1.8 billion project, but it still has $4.2 billion to $4.8 billion in work underway for natural gas and natural gas liquids producers, Spencer added. The pipeline would have moved 200,000 barrels of oil per day from North Dakota and Montana wells to the giant storage hub in Cushing.
