ONEOK Announces Plans to Increase Natural Gas Liquids Takeaway Capacity out of the Rocky Mountain Region
TULSA, Okla., Jan. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE) today announced plans to invest approximately $1.4 billion to construct a new pipeline, and related infrastructure, to transport natural gas liquids (NGLs) from the Rocky Mountain region to the company's existing Mid-Continent NGL facilities.
The Elk Creek Pipeline - an approximately 900-mile, 20-inch diameter pipeline that is expected to be completed by the end of 2019 - will have the capacity to transport up to 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) of unfractionated NGLs from near the company's Riverview terminal in eastern Montana to Bushton, Kansas. The Elk Creek Pipeline is expected to cost approximately $1.2 billion, with related infrastructure costs expected to total approximately $200 million. The pipeline will have the capability to be expanded to 400,000 bpd with additional pump facilities.
"The existing Bakken NGL and Overland Pass Pipelines are operating at full capacity. Additional NGL takeaway capacity is critical to meeting the needs of producers who are increasing production and are required to meet natural gas capture targets in the Williston Basin," said Terry K. Spencer, ONEOK president and chief executive officer. "The Elk Creek Pipeline will strengthen ONEOK's position in the high-production areas of the Bakken, Powder River and Denver-Julesburg regions and also provide additional reliability and redundancy on our NGL system."
The Elk Creek Pipeline is anchored by long-term contracts with terms ranging between 10 to 15 years totaling approximately 100,000 bpd, which is supported primarily by minimum volume commitments. In the aggregate, and based on these contracts for 100,000 bpd, this project is expected to generate adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted EBITDA) multiples of four to six times.
ONEOK expects to finance the Elk Creek Pipeline with a combination of new equity, including approximately $450 million of net proceeds received from common stock issued during 2017 under its "at-the-market" equity program, with cash from operations in excess of dividends and short- and long-term borrowings.
This project is part of ONEOK's $3.0 billion to $3.5 billion of potential capital-growth projects. Additional projects that are expected to have similar adjusted EBITDA multiples to this project, which are in the late stages of development, are expected to be announced when sufficient supply commitments are secured. ONEOK expects to finance its additional capital-growth projects in 2018 and well into 2019 with cash generated from operations and short- and long-term borrowings.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
View a map of the proposed pipeline.
NON-GAAP (GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES) FINANCIAL MEASURES:
ONEOK has disclosed in this news release forward-looking estimates for projected adjusted EBITDA multiples expected to be generated by the announced capital-growth project. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial metric used to measure the company's financial performance. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income from continuing operations adjusted for interest expense, depreciation and amortization, noncash impairment charges, income taxes, noncash compensation expense, allowance for equity funds used during construction (equity AFUDC), and other noncash items. Adjusted EBITDA multiples for the announced capital-growth projects reflect the expected adjusted EBITDA to be generated by the projects relative to the capital investment being made.
Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA multiples are useful to investors because these and similar measures, are used by many companies in the industry as a measure of financial performance and commonly employed by financial analysts and others to evaluate ONEOK's financial performance and of its capital-growth projects and to compare the financial performance of ONEOK with the performance of other companies within its industry. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income or any other measure of financial performance presented in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, this calculation may not be comparable with similarly titled measures of other companies.
A reconciliation of estimated adjusted EBITDA to GAAP net income is not provided because the GAAP net income generated by the project is not available without unreasonable efforts.
ONEOK, Inc. (pronounced ONE-OAK) (NYSE: OKE) is one of the largest energy midstream service providers in the U.S., connecting prolific supply basins with key market centers. It owns and operates one of the nation's premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems and is a leader in the gathering, processing, storage and transportation of natural gas. ONEOK's operations include a 38,000-mile integrated network of NGL and natural gas pipelines, processing plants, fractionators and storage facilities in the Mid-Continent, Williston, Permian and Rocky Mountain regions.
ONEOK is a FORTUNE 500 company and is included in Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index.
For information about ONEOK, Inc., visit the website: www.oneok.com.
For the latest news about ONEOK, find us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter @ONEOK.
Some of the statements contained herein are forward-looking statements as defined under federal securities laws. The forward-looking statements relate to our anticipated financial performance (including projected net income, capital expenditures, cash flow and projected levels of dividends), liquidity, management's plans and objectives for our future growth projects and other future operations (including plans to construct additional natural gas and natural gas liquids facilities and related cost estimates), our business prospects, the outcome of regulatory and legal proceedings, market conditions and other matters. We make these forward-looking statements in reliance on the safe harbor protections provided under federal securities legislation and other applicable laws.
Forward-looking statements include the items identified in the preceding paragraph, the information concerning possible or assumed future results of our operations and other statements contained herein identified by words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "should," "goal," "forecast," "guidance," "could," "may," "continue," "might," "potential," "scheduled" and other words and terms of similar meaning.
You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Those factors may affect our operations, markets, products, services and prices. In addition to any assumptions and other factors referred to specifically in connection with the forward-looking statements, factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statement include, among others, those factors listed under "Forward-looking Statements" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2017, and in our other filings that we make with the SEC, which are available via the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and our website at www.oneok.com.
These factors are not necessarily all of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any of our forward-looking statements. Other factors could also have material adverse effects on our future results. These and other risks are described in greater detail under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2016 and in our other filings that we make with the SEC, which are available via the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and our website at www.oneok.com. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Any such forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and other than as required under securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, subsequent events or change in circumstances, expectations or otherwise.
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Media Contact: Stephanie Higgins
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SOURCE ONEOK, Inc.
