Midstream service provider ONEOK Inc. on Dec. 11 said that the Elk Creek pipeline, which extends from the Williston Basin to the company's existing Mid-Continent NGL facilities in Bushton, Kan., has been completed.

The pipeline has a transportation capacity of 240,000 barrels per day of unfractionated NGLs which could be expanded to 400,000 bbl/d with additional pump facilities. The company expects total Rocky Mountain NGL volumes transported via the Elk Creek and Bakken NGL pipelines to reach more than 240,000 bbl/d by the end of the first quarter of 2020, according to a news release.

"Elk Creek, combined with ONEOK's investments in additional natural gas processing infrastructure in the region, will help producers significantly reduce natural gas currently flaring in North Dakota," said ONEOK CEO Terry Spencer.

During the company's third-quarter earnings call, executives noted that the pipeline would help clear the liquids congestion when it begins flowing about 100,000 barrels per day in the first quarter of 2020. The southern portion of the project began transporting NGLs in July.