ONEOK cuts capital expenditures and suspends some oil/gas ventures

 

Tulsa-based ONEOK Inc. on Thursday did what other energy companies involved in oil and gas exploration have done—cut its 2020 growth capital guidance because of the oil price war. It also  suspended several of its oil and gas ventures.

The company cut its cap-ex budget by $500 million and said it expected expenditures for the rest of 2020 would be in the range of $1.6 billion to $2.40 billion with a midpoint of $2 billion.

“Given the significant inventory of flared natural gas in the Williston Basin and fully contracted growth in the Permian Basin, and factoring in the current commodity price environment and assumed rig reductions, we expect our 2020 results to be within our previously announced guidance ranges,” said Terry K. Spencer, ONEOK president and chief executive officer. “We are working with our producers on any updates to their drilling plans and evaluating the impact on our future volume expectations, and we will make adjustments to financial guidance if appropriate.”

“Break-even prices for our well-capitalized producer customers have improved significantly over the last several years, which gives us the confidence that the Williston Basin is expected to remain a competitive producing region through this volatile and uncertain commodity price environment,” continued Spencer. “The potential for ethane recovery to meet downstream pipeline BTU specifications also provides a tailwind to our natural gas liquids volume expectations.”

“Despite the volatile commodity price environment in recent days, ONEOK’s financial flexibility, significant dividend coverage and investment-grade balance sheet position ONEOK well to weather these challenging market conditions,” said Spencer. “We recently completed a $1.75 billion debt offering enabling us to repay all of our commercial paper, leaving us with the full borrowing capacity available on our $2.5 billion credit agreement and approximately $600 million of cash on hand, demonstrating our strong financial position.”

ONEOK has made adjustments for planned capital expenditures and is suspending the following announced expansion projects:

  • The 100,000 barrel per day (bpd) additional expansion of the West Texas LPG pipeline in the Permian Basin; and
  • The 200 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) expansion of the Demicks Lake natural gas processing facility, the Demicks Lake III project and related infrastructure in the Williston Basin.
  • Additionally, the scope of the Elk Creek Pipeline expansion will be reduced, with the ability to add pump stations incrementally to meet customer needs as necessary.

“The planning and work we have already completed allow us to quickly resume these suspended capital-growth projects when the environment improves and our customers require these services,” said Spencer.

“We will remain focused on operating our assets safely, reliably and environmentally responsibly,” continued Spencer. “We have uniquely positioned strategic assets and a long, rich history of our dedicated and experienced employees providing quality service to and creating value for our customers, communities and shareholders.”

Source: ONEOK Press release