Midstream Musings
Boosting capacity amid record volumes has been thematic this year for midstreamers operating in the nation’s richest basins but change whispers on the wind as expected declines in production threaten to upend gains in the second half. That’s not, however, a deal-breaker for those on the hunt for new assets, integrating new acquisitions, or seizing new opportunities.
Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest on these starting with Houston-based Plains All American, which recently revealed itself as the mystery buyer of a 43% stake in Diamondback’s OMOG crude oil system in the Midland. The bolt-on $225 million deal adds 400 miles of crude oil pipe and 350 MBbls of storage to the Plains’ Permian juggernaut and, yes, the company is scouting for more.
Tulsa-based ONEOK, whose natural gas and NGLs midstream business scored strong in 2Q, is eagerly awaiting its new baby before year end. ONEOK’s $18.8 billion acquisition in May of downtown neighbor Magellan will launch the midstream giant into the stratosphere while expanding ONEOK’s hydrocarbon mix with refined products to include 12,000 miles of liquids pipelines.
And finally, Dallas-based IACX, which aside from building and operating NGL processing and gas treating plants, also happens to specialize in proprietary helium recovery units. In what appears to be a most fortuitous time given the shrinking global helium supply and surging demand for semiconductors, IACX plans to build, finance, and operate a recovery plant in the newly discovered Mont., Sweetgrass helium pool with a commercialization deal that includes a tolling fee agreement.