Oneok facts for kids
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| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| Industry | Oil and gas |
| Founded | 1906 |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters |
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U.S.
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Key people
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| Products |
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| Services |
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| Revenue |  US$21.7 billion (2024) |
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Operating income
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US$4.99 billion (2024) |
| US$3.03 billion (2024) |
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| Total assets | US$64.1 billion (2024) |
| Total equity | US$22.1 billion (2024) |
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Number of employees
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5,177 (2024) |
| Subsidiaries |
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Oneok, Inc. (pronounced ONE-oak), often written as ONEOK, is a large American company that works with oil and natural gas. Its main office is in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Oneok is a midstream company. This means it doesn't drill for oil and gas, but it helps move and prepare it for use. It gathers, processes, transports, and stores oil and gas products for other companies. Oneok is a very large company, part of the Fortune 500 list.
The company started in 1906 as the Oklahoma Natural Gas Company. It changed its name to Oneok in 1980.
History of Oneok
The Oklahoma Natural Gas Company was started on October 12, 1906, by two businessmen, Dennis T. Flynn and Charles B. Ames. In 1907, the company built a long gas pipeline from Osage County to Oklahoma City. This was a big project that cost $1.7 million.
In 1910, the company built the first compressor station in Oklahoma. These stations help push gas through the pipelines. By 1919, the company was supplying gas to 37 towns in Oklahoma. By 1956, it had 600 employees and over 6,600 miles of pipeline.
Becoming Oneok and Growing
In 1980, the company's leaders decided to change its name to Oneok Inc. The part of the company that provided gas service to customers kept the old name, Oklahoma Natural Gas, as a division of Oneok.
Over the years, Oneok bought other companies to grow bigger.
- 1996: Oneok bought the natural gas pipelines and plants from a company called Western Resources. This added many new customers in Kansas and Oklahoma.
- 2002: Oneok bought the Texas part of Southern Union Gas. Oneok renamed this new part Texas Gas Service.
- 2004: Oneok bought Northern Plains Natural Gas Co. This gave Oneok control of more pipelines and natural gas processing plants.
In 2013, Oneok created a new, separate company for its natural gas delivery services. This new company is called One Gas, and it includes Oklahoma Natural Gas, Kansas Gas Service, and Texas Gas Service.
Recent Events
In November 2021, Oneok started building a new natural gas processing plant in McKenzie County, North Dakota. The project had been paused but was finished and started working in February 2023.
In July 2022, a Oneok gas plant in Medford, Oklahoma, had an explosion. No one was injured, but people living nearby had to leave their homes for a short time. The company received a large insurance payment and decided to move some of the plant's work to other locations.
In September 2023, Oneok made a very large purchase. It bought Magellan Midstream Partners for $18.8 billion. This deal gave Oneok control of many important oil terminals and pipelines in Texas.
The company continued to grow in 2024. In May, it bought 450 miles of pipelines along the Gulf Coast in Texas and Louisiana. In November, it sold three of its other pipelines to a company called DT Midstream.
Oneok also expanded its work in the Permian Basin, a major oil-producing area. It bought two companies, Medallion Midstream and EnLink Midstream, in late 2024 and early 2025. These purchases gave Oneok more pipelines and equipment for gathering and processing oil and gas.
What Oneok Does
Oneok is divided into four main business areas:
- Natural Gas Liquids: These are valuable gases like propane and butane that are separated from natural gas.
- Natural Gas Gathering and Processing: This involves collecting raw natural gas from wells and cleaning it to make it ready for use.
- Natural Gas Pipelines: This is the transportation of clean natural gas through a huge network of pipelines.
- Refined Products and Crude Oil: This involves moving and storing crude oil and other finished products like gasoline.
Oneok operates several major pipelines, including the Northern Border Pipeline and the Elk Creek Pipeline. Its subsidiary, Magellan Midstream Partners, owns about 2,200 miles of pipelines just for crude oil.
See also
- Guardian Pipeline
- Oklahoma Natural Gas Company Building
- One Gas
