BlackRock pays $300m for Oklahoma oil pipeline

BlackRock has purchased a 50 percent stake in a crude oil pipeline in Oklahoma from NGL Energy Partners for $300 million.

The manager invested in the 215-mile Glass Mountain Pipeline using its Global Energy and Power Infrastructure Fund. It has teamed up with Navigator Energy Services, who will manage the midstream asset after the deal closes by the end of this year.

The Glass Mountain Pipeline delivers crude oil to storage terminals located in Cushing, Oklahoma.

Mike Krimbill, NGL’s chief executive, said the decision to sell its stake in the pipeline was to reduce its balance sheet leverage and focus on investments in emerging US oilfields.

The US midstream sector has been red hot for investors this year, with billions of dollars being poured into pipelines, gathering systems and storage terminals.

BlackRock has significantly increased its midstream footprint this year with February’s acquisition of First Reserve Energy Infrastructure Funds. The deal value was not disclosed, but First Reserve’s two funds managed $3.7 billion of committed capital at the time BlackRock’s acquisition was announced.

BlackRock’s infrastructure assets under management total around $14 billion. The firm now ranks at number 6 in Infrastructure Investor‘s top 50 list of infrastructure managers‘s .

In August, BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power Infrastructure group purchased Ohio-based Gas Natural in a $196 million deal. Since 2010, the team has announced or closed more than 20 strategic investments. It owns and operates power, transmission, distribution and midstream assets in North America, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Europe.