ONEOK agreed to buy Brazos Midstream’s Permian Basin assets for $4.42 billion, extending a wave of acquisitions by major U.S. pipeline companies as natural gas demand rises from LNG exports and AI data centers. The transaction includes 700 miles of gathering lines and 1.2 Bcf/d of gas processing capacity. Williams recently bought Momentum Midstream for $5.5 billion, while Western Midstream paid $1.6 billion for Brazos’ Delaware Basin facilities in May. U.S. Department of Energy projections cited in the report indicate U.S. gas output could rise 35% to 150 Bcf/d by 2050, from 50 Bcf/d 20 years ago. ONEOK is also building the 450-mile Eiger Express Pipeline, scheduled to enter service in 2028, after raising its planned capacity to more than 3.5 Bcf/d from 2.5 Bcf/d. Apollo Global Management will invest $9 billion in ONEOK, including $4 billion for the Brazos purchase and $5 billion to reduce debt.