Oneok: The Pipeline and the People

by

Oneok. The name itself tastes of steel and distant lands. They speak of growth, of earnings, of ‘synergies’ born from the swallowing of smaller companies – EnLink, Medallion, Magellan. A feast for the shareholders, naturally. Last year, over eight billion dollars adjusted EBITDA – a figure as cold and vast as the Siberian plains. A 17% compound annual rate for twelve years. They build their prosperity on the backs of those who heat their homes, fuel their vehicles, and yet, the warmth doesn’t always reach those who generate it. They speak of headwinds, of commodity prices, as if these were acts of God, not the predictable ebb and flow of a system built on extraction.

The Slowing of the Machine

Now, the engine sputters. A slowdown is predicted, a crawl even. They claim it’s temporary, a pause before the next surge. A slight increase in EBITDA is forecast, but offset by ‘higher corporate costs’ – a polite way of saying more goes to those already well-fed. They offer promises of savings, of expansion projects – the Medford NGL Fractionator, the Bighorn Processing Plant – grand designs etched on paper while the foundations beneath shift and crack. These expansions, they say, will deliver prosperity. But to whom? The engineers? The managers? Or merely another layer of profit for those who already possess more than they need?

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The Dividend: A Crumbs for the Masses

A 4.9% dividend. A sop to the investor, a meager reward for patience. They tout a quarter-century of stability and growth. Stability for whom? The shareholder who sleeps soundly while others toil? The growth is real, of course, but it is a growth that feels…uneven. They speak of the Texas City Logistics terminal, the Eiger Express Pipeline, projects costing a billion dollars. A billion dollars that could build schools, hospitals, or simply provide a measure of dignity to those who struggle to make ends meet. Instead, it fuels the machine, the relentless pursuit of more.

They anticipate a reacceleration by 2028. A promise, like so many others. One must ask: what will that acceleration leave in its wake? Will it lift all boats, or merely widen the gulf between those who have and those who have not? The market rewards efficiency, they say. But what is the cost of that efficiency? What is the value of a human life, a community, a future?

Oneok is not evil. It is simply a reflection of the world as it is: a world where profit often trumps compassion, where growth is measured in dollars and cents, and where the common man is often forgotten. They offer a steady dividend, a small comfort in a turbulent world. But it is a comfort built on a foundation of extraction, of inequality, and of a system that too often leaves the many to serve the few. One can collect the yield, yes. But one should also look beyond the numbers, and see the human cost of progress.

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2026-02-25 16:14