MDU Resources unit acquires stake in midstream assets

Bitter Creek Pipelines, a subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, has acquired a 50% stake in natural gas and oil midstream assets near Belfield in North Dakota, US.

Bitter Creek paid $66m for the interest in Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation’s facilities and will meet 60% of certain future capital expenditures as per the deal.

The facilities include a natural gas gathering pipeline system and a newly-built Belfield natural gas processing plant with an inlet processing capacity of 35 million cubic feet per day.

MDU Resources president and chief executive officer Terry D. Hildestad said, "These assets will provide valuable natural gas and crude oil infrastructure for us to capture and process natural gas and allows us to take advantage of more choices to market crude oil."

Bitter Creek Pipelines president and chief executive officer Steven L. Bietz said the investment diversifies the company’s operations into midstream gathering and processing of natural gas liquids and crude oil.

"This complements both our expertise in dry gas gathering, transportation and storage, and our asset base in the Bakken," he added.

The assets also include a natural gas residue line that links the MDU Resources unit Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Company system, along with a crude oil gathering system and a 20,000 barrel crude oil storage terminal which is currently under construction.