ONEOK to Acquire Brazos Midland Gas Assets for $4.425 Billion

August 31, 2026 at 07:35 AM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

ONEOK has agreed to acquire Brazos Midstream’s natural gas gathering and processing assets in the Permian Basin’s Midland sub-basin for $4.425 billion in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions including U.S. antitrust clearance. The deal will be funded by a separate $9 billion nonvoting minority equity investment from Apollo Global Management.

Key Facts

ONEOK will pay $4.425 billion in cash for Brazos Midstream’s natural gas gathering and processing assets in the Midland sub-basin of the Permian Basin.
The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions including U.S. antitrust clearance.
Apollo Global Management will provide a $9 billion nonvoting minority equity investment, with roughly $5 billion used to extinguish existing ONEOK debt.
The Brazos system is supported by roughly 600,000 dedicated acres under fixed-fee contracts with a weighted average remaining term exceeding 12 years.
ONEOK expects the acquired system to comprise about 700 miles of gathering infrastructure and 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of gas processing capacity after the Cassidy II plant is completed in Q3 2027.

Deal Structure and Financing

ONEOK plans to use roughly $5 billion of the Apollo proceeds to extinguish existing debt, while the remainder will fund the Brazos acquisition. The structure allows ONEOK to finance the transaction without issuing common equity. The company expects the combination of the Apollo investment and planned debt reduction to bring its pro forma 2027 debt-to-EBITDA ratio to about 3.25 times. ONEOK estimates the Brazos purchase price at about 7.5 times projected 2027 EBITDA, including approximately $80 million of anticipated annual synergies, falling to roughly six times projected 2028 EBITDA.

Asset Footprint and Producers

Brazos’ Midland Basin system is supported by roughly 600,000 dedicated acres under fixed-fee contracts with a weighted average remaining term exceeding 12 years. Producers operating on the acreage include ExxonMobil, Diamondback Energy and Double Eagle, with 14 active drilling rigs currently supporting the system. After completion of the Cassidy II processing plant, which ONEOK expects in the third quarter of 2027, the acquired system is expected to comprise about 700 miles of gathering infrastructure and 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of gas processing capacity across seven Midland Basin counties. ONEOK said adding the Brazos assets would more than double its Midland Basin processing capacity to approximately 2.3 Bcf/d, including facilities currently under construction.

Strategic Expansion

The acquisition continues a multiyear expansion of ONEOK’s U.S. midstream portfolio. The company completed its $14.1 billion acquisition of Magellan Midstream Partners in 2023, adding major crude oil and refined-products infrastructure. In 2024, ONEOK paid about $2.6 billion for Medallion Midstream and $3.3 billion for Global Infrastructure Partners’ controlling interest in EnLink Midstream, before acquiring EnLink’s remaining publicly held interests in January 2025. The company expects to link those volumes with its broader natural gas liquids infrastructure, including the West Texas NGL Pipeline and its Medford fractionation project.