Exhibit
99.1
















December
      21, 2009
              
              Analyst
      Contact:
              Andrew
      Ziola918-588-7163Media
      Contact:
              Brad
      Borror918-588-7582
   ONEOK
and ONEOK Partners Boards Elect Gibson
 To
Additional Role of President;
 
 ONEOK
Partners Board Elects Spencer as Director
 TULSA,
Okla. – Dec. 21, 2009 – The board of directors of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE)
elected ONEOK Chief Executive Officer John W. Gibson to the additional role of
president.
 
 Separately,
the board of directors of the general partner of ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE:
OKS) elected Gibson to the additional role of president of the partnership where
he currently serves as chairman and chief executive officer.
 
 In
addition, Terry K. Spencer, chief operating officer of ONEOK Partners, was
elected to the board of directors of the general partner of ONEOK
Partners.
 
 The
elections are effective Jan. 1, 2010, when James C. Kneale will retire from the
ONEOK Partners board and from the position of president of ONEOK and ONEOK
Partners, after a 29-year career with the company.
 
 “Terry
Spencer’s extensive knowledge and experience in the natural gas and natural gas
liquids businesses will be an asset to the board,” said Gibson.
 
 “We
appreciate Jim Kneale’s many contributions to the ONEOK Partners board, as well
as his leadership and contributions to ONEOK during his remarkable career,”
Gibson added.
 
 Spencer
became chief operating officer of ONEOK Partners in 2009 and is responsible for
its three operating segments – natural gas gathering and processing, natural gas
pipelines and natural gas liquids. From 2007 to 2009, he was executive vice
president of ONEOK, with responsibilities for ONEOK Partner’s natural gas
liquids gathering and fractionation, and pipeline segments, as well as ONEOK’s
energy services segment.
 
 
 ONEOK
and ONEOK Partners Boards Elects Gibson To Additional Role of
President;
 ONEOK
Partners Board Elects Spencer as Director
 
 Page
2
 
 He joined
the company in 2001 as project development director for natural gas gathering
and processing. Later, he served as vice president - gas supply and project
development in the gathering and processing segment. In 2005, Spencer became
senior vice president of ONEOK’s natural gas liquids business following its
acquisition from Koch Industries. He became president of natural gas liquids in
2006.
 
 Prior to
joining ONEOK, Spencer held positions of increasing responsibility in the
natural gas gathering and processing industry with Continental Natural Gas,
Inc., in Tulsa; Stellar Gas Company in Houston; and Texas Oil and Gas
Corporation’s Delhi Gas Pipeline subsidiary in Dallas. Spencer earned a Bachelor
of Science degree in petroleum engineering in 1981 from the University of
Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
 
 Jim
Kneale became president of ONEOK Partners and ONEOK in July 2009, after serving
as president and chief operating officer of ONEOK since 2007 and of ONEOK
Partners since 2008, where he also served as a director. He joined ONEOK in 1981
as vice president of accounting and moved to Oklahoma Natural Gas as vice
president of accounting in 1992. He served in various executive operating and
finance positions until being named president of Oklahoma Natural Gas in 1997,
holding that post until 1999 when he became chief financial officer of ONEOK.
Kneale earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting in 1973
from West Texas A&M in Canyon, and completed advanced studies at Harvard
University.
 
 John
Gibson became chief executive officer of ONEOK in January 2007 and chairman and
chief executive officer of ONEOK Partners in October 2006 after serving as
president and chief operating officer of ONEOK Partners. He is a member of the
boards of directors of ONEOK and ONEOK Partners. Prior to joining ONEOK in 2000,
Gibson was the executive vice president of Koch Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of
Koch Industries, responsible for its interstate natural gas pipelines and
gathering and processing businesses. Gibson began his career in the energy
industry in 1974 as a refinery engineer with Exxon Company, USA and beginning in
1977 spent 18 years with Phillips Petroleum Company in a variety of domestic and
international positions in the natural gas, natural gas liquids and exploration
and production businesses. Gibson earned an engineering degree in 1974 from the
University of Missouri at Rolla, now called Missouri University of Science and
Technology. He has also completed advanced studies at Harvard
University.
 
 To
obtain electronic photo files of Gibson, Spencer and Kneale, visit the ONEOK Web
site: http://www.oneok.com/John_Gibson.jpg,
http://www.oneok.com/Terry_Spencer.jpg
 andhttp://www.oneok.com/Jim_Kneale.jpg.
  
 
 ONEOK,
Inc. (NYSE: OKE) is a diversified energy company. We are the general partner and
own 45.1 percent of ONEOK Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS), one of the largest
publicly traded master limited partnerships, which is a leader in the gathering,
processing, storage and transportation of natural gas in the U.S. and owns one
of the nation’s premier natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply
in the Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions with key market centers. ONEOK
is among the largest natural gas distributors in the United States, serving more
than 2 million customers in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas. Our energy services
operation
 
 
 ONEOK
and ONEOK Partners Boards Elects Gibson To Additional Role of
President;
 ONEOK
Partners Board Elects Spencer as Director
 
 Page
3
 
 focuses
primarily on marketing natural gas and related services throughout the U.S.
ONEOK is a Fortune 500 company.
 
 ONEOK
Partners, L.P. (NYSE: OKS) is one of the largest publicly traded master limited
partnerships, and is a leader in the gathering, processing, storage and
transportation of natural gas in the U.S. and owns one of the nation’s premier
natural gas liquids (NGL) systems, connecting NGL supply in the Mid-Continent
and Rocky Mountain regions with key market centers. Its general partner is a
wholly owned subsidiary of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE: OKE), a diversified energy
company, which owns 45.1 percent of the overall partnership interest. ONEOK is
one of the largest natural gas distributors in the United States, and its energy
services operation focuses primarily on marketing natural gas and related
services throughout the U.S.
 
 For more
information, visit the Web sites atwww.oneok.com or
www.oneokpartners.com
 OKE-G
OKS-G
 ###