Williams Companies Plows into Pipeline Projects, Feels Natural Gas Glow

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Williams Companies Incorporated (NYSE:WMB) (Tulsa, Oklahoma) is engaging in a bevy of pipeline projects across the south and northeast U.S. as it sees heightened demand for natural gas both domestically and abroad.

Industrial Info is tracking $3.9 billion worth of active projects by the energy pipeline and infrastructure company, ranging in value from $1 million to $2 billion. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Pipeline Project Database can click here for a list of detailed project reports.

Click on the image at right for a chart showing Williams Companies' project activity by U.S. market region.

"This past quarter we achieved a 3% increase in transmission contracted capacity compared to the same period last year led by bringing on line the Leidy South Transco expansion project throughout 2021," Chief Executive Officer Alan Armstrong said in an earnings press release on Tuesday.

Williams completed the Leidy South expansion of its existing Pennsylvania infrastructure, which was designed to carry about 600 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of natural gas supply from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays to markets along the Atlantic Seaboard in time for the 2021-2022 winter heating season.

"We are experiencing continued demand for capacity on our Transco pipeline network as evidenced by the recently contracted Texas-to-Louisiana Energy Pathway project now in execution to serve the Gulf Coast LNG (liquefied natural gas) export market by fourth quarter 2025," Armstrong continued.

The company said it recently secured customer commitments for the pipeline, a 364 million-cubic-foot-per-day Transco expansion project, which will carry Haynesville shale gas to serve the growing LNG export market. The project has a targeted in-service date of fourth-quarter 2025. Williams' Transco pipeline network traverses 10,000 miles, including an 1,800-mile mainline from southern Texas, along the Gulf Coast, through 12 Southeast and Atlantic Seaboard states along its way to New York City. The Transco pipeline is responsible for approximately 15% of the nation's natural gas, amid growing U.S. demand.

Williams also has closed on the acquisition of assets from Trace Midstream (Houston, Texas), valued at $950 million, Armstrong said. "The transaction includes a long-term capacity commitment from a Trace customer in support of Williams' Louisiana Energy Gateway project that will move Haynesville gas to premium Transco markets, as well as to growing industrial and LNG export demand along the Gulf Coast."

The combination of the Trace system with Williams' existing footprint increases the company's gathering capacity in the Haynesville Basin from 1.8 billion cubic feet per day to more than 4 billion cubic feet, according to Williams.

"We now have six unique transmission expansion projects in execution, totaling 1.9 billion cubic feet per day, to serve growing natural gas demand," Armstrong added.

In all, the company said in its earnings presentation that it is developing five projects to transport natural gas to power generation facilities, valued at $2 billion; seven projects to move natural gas to LNG facilities, worth $4 billion; and 12 projects transporting natural gas to industrial facilities and gas utilities, worth $2 billion.

One of Williams' most substantial projects being tracked by Industrial Info is the 500-mile Bluebonnet Express Pipeline, which would move up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Waha Hub near Fort Stockton, Texas, to Katy. The natural gas would then enter Transco's Zone 2 mainline, which covers the northern half of the Texas Gulf Coast. Subscribers can click here for related project reports.

On a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, Williams reported net income of $379 million for the first quarter, compared with $425 million in first-quarter 2021. Williams had higher profits in the year-earlier quarter in part because of revenues associated with Winter Storm Uri, the company said.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the world's leading provider of market intelligence across the upstream, midstream and downstream energy markets and all other major industrial markets. IIR's Global Market Intelligence Platform (GMI) supports our end-users across their core businesses, and helps them connect trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated project opportunities. Follow IIR on: LinkedIn.