<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001193125-22-266588.txt : 20221201
<SEC-HEADER>0001193125-22-266588.hdr.sgml : 20221201
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20221021130629
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ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001193125-22-266588
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20221021

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			ONEOK INC /NEW/
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001039684
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	NATURAL GAS TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION [4923]
		IRS NUMBER:				731520922
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			OK
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		100 WEST 5TH ST
		CITY:			TULSA
		STATE:			OK
		ZIP:			74103
		BUSINESS PHONE:		9185887000

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		100 WEST 5TH ST
		CITY:			TULSA
		STATE:			OK
		ZIP:			74103

	FORMER COMPANY:	
		FORMER CONFORMED NAME:	WAI INC
		DATE OF NAME CHANGE:	19970519
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<Center><DIV STYLE="width:8.5in" align="left">
 <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">October&nbsp;21, 2022 </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><I><U>VIA EDGAR </U></I></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">U.S Securities and Exchange Commission
</P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Division of Corporate Finance </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Office of Energy and
Transportation </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">100 F Street, NE </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Washington, D.C 20549 </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:9%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">RE: ONEOK Inc. </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:9%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Form <FONT
STYLE="white-space:nowrap">10-K</FONT> for the Fiscal Year Ended December&nbsp;31, 2021 </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:9%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Filed March&nbsp;1, 2022 </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; margin-left:9%; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">File <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">No.&nbsp;001-13643</FONT> </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Ladies and Gentlemen: </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">ONEOK, Inc., an Oklahoma corporation
(the &#147;Company&#148;, &#147;we&#148; or &#147;our&#148;), is in receipt of the comment of the staff (the &#147;Staff&#148;) of the Securities and Exchange Commission set forth in the Staff&#146;s letter dated September&nbsp;22, 2022 (the
&#147;Comment Letter&#148;) with respect to (i)&nbsp;the Company&#146;s Annual Report on Form <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">10-K</FONT> for the fiscal year ended December&nbsp;31, 2021 (the &#147;2021 Form
<FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">10-K&#148;)</FONT> and (ii)&nbsp;the Company&#146;s letter, dated September&nbsp;9, 2022, in response to the comments of the Staff with respect to the 2021 Form <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">10-K</FONT> set forth
in the letter from the Staff to the Company dated August&nbsp;29, 2022. </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">For the convenience of the Staff, the comments from the Comment Letter are
repeated herein, and our responses are set forth immediately below such comments. </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:18pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><U>Form <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">10-K</FONT> filed
March&nbsp;1, 2022 </U></P> <P STYLE="font-size:6pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="5%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><I>1.</I></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P STYLE=" margin-top:0pt ; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman; " ALIGN="left"><I>The disclosures noted in your response to prior comment 3 do not appear to adequately address each element
of our prior comment. Please revise to disclose in greater detail the indirect consequences of climate-related regulation or business trends related to increased competition to develop innovative new products that result in lower emissions and
increased demand for generation and transmission of energy from alternative energy sources. </I></P></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><U>Response: </U></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">In our 2021 Form <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">10-K</FONT> risk factor titled &#147;Increasing attention to ESG matters, including climate change, may
impact our business,&#148; we disclose that regulatory policies or technologies aimed at addressing climate change may result in a reduction in a demand for hydrocarbon products, which may reduce the demand for our services, impact our business,
results of operations, financial position and cash flows. For example, to the extent that demand for natural gas or NGLs decreases (whether due to regulatory action, conservation efforts, technological advances, or otherwise), there would likely be
a corresponding decrease in the demand for midstream services. However, <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">to-date,</FONT> we continue to see strong demand for natural gas, NGLs and our services. </P>
 <p STYLE="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt ; font-size:8pt">&nbsp;</P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">1 </P>

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<Center><DIV STYLE="width:8.5in" align="left">
 <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">The technology for the development of innovative new products that could result in lower emissions and for
alternative energy sources to replace the demand for natural gas and NGLs is still relatively early in its development and is not a viable economy-wide replacement for traditional energy sources in the near term. Various forecasts indicate that
global energy use is projected to continue rising. This and other factors, such as the infrastructural complexities associated with transitioning energy sources, suggest that natural gas and NGLs will continue to play a significant role in the
energy mix. Further, as we disclosed in our 2022 Quarterly Reports on Form <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">10-Q,</FONT> recent geopolitical events that have disrupted global supply chains and have caused volatile commodity prices for natural gas,
NGLs and crude oil have highlighted the importance of a strong national energy supply and infrastructure supporting the United States economy and national security, further supporting the need for our services. </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">In the longer term, we believe that innovative new products that result in lower emissions and increased demand for generation and transmission of energy
from<I> </I>alternative energy sources represent an opportunity for us as these technologies develop. We disclosed in our 2021 Form <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">10-K</FONT> that we aim to strengthen the role we expect to play in the
transformation to a lower-carbon economy, are dedicated to the evaluation and development of renewable energy and <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">low-carbon</FONT> projects and are actively researching opportunities that will complement our
extensive midstream assets and expertise. </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Our management reviews quarterly the requirements of our disclosure obligations, including the topics
highlighted in the 2010 Climate Change Guidance. These processes include a consideration of the indirect consequences of climate-related regulation or business trends on our business. Due to the factors described above, these reviews have not
indicated any material impact of indirect consequences of climate-related regulation or business trends on our business, including those due to increased competition to develop innovative new products that result in lower emissions and increased
demand for generation and transmission of energy from alternative energy sources. </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">We believe our current disclosures are sufficient but we continue to
monitor indirect consequences of climate-related regulation and business trends, including those listed in the Staff&#146;s comments, and expect to disclose any that become material in future filings. </P>
<P STYLE="font-size:12pt;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&nbsp;</P>
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<TD WIDTH="4%">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD WIDTH="5%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><I>2.</I></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P STYLE=" margin-top:0pt ; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman; " ALIGN="left"><I>We note your response to prior comment 6. Please tell us about any purchase or sale of carbon credits or
offsets planned for future periods. </I></P></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman"><U>Response: </U></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">We do not have any purchase or sale of carbon credits or offsets planned for future periods. </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Please contact me at (918) <FONT STYLE="white-space:nowrap">588-7944</FONT> if you need clarification or additional information. </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Sincerely, </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">/s/ Walter S. Hulse III </P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Walter S. Hulse III </P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman">Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and
Executive Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Development </P>
 <p STYLE="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt ; font-size:8pt">&nbsp;</P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; font-size:10pt; font-family:Times New Roman" ALIGN="center">2 </P>

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