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Tulsa-based Williams to extend Transco pipeline

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), May 7, 2008 by Kirby Lee Davis

Williams intends to build a 250-mile expansion of its Transco pipeline system, connecting East Coast markets with domestic natural gas supplies across the nation.

Now called the Northeast Supply Project, this effort combines two earlier pipeline proposals by the Tulsa natural gas giant, promising transportation service as early as November 2011. Initial cost estimates were not available.

"We received a very positive response from the market during our initial open seasons for both the Rockies Connector and Northeast Connector components," said Phil Wright, president of Williams' natural gas pipeline business. "As a result of discussions with potential shippers we are now pursuing these projects jointly as a single, Transco-owned and -operated project, providing a continuous path for growing domestic supply sources to serve demand on the East Coast."

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The proposed Rockies Connector Pipeline had involved a 250-mile extension from Transco Station 195 in York County, Pa., to the east end of the 1,700-mile Rockies Express, a consortium pipeline in development originating in the Piceance Basin of Rio Blanco County, Colo. Targeted for November 2010 usage, Williams had projected that connector might handle up to 688,000 dekatherms per day, enough natural gas to heat about 3 million homes.

The Northeast Connector Expansion would have gone online along the same November 2010 time period, interconnecting with the Rockies Connector Pipeline to Transco Zone Six delivery points in the northeastern United States.

Combined as the Northeast Supply Project, this proposal would use the 250-mile Transco extension to connect the Rockies Express Pipeline near Clarington, Ohio, to Transco's southeastern Pennsylvania mainline. Williams said this effective expansion of Transco's existing system would give natural gas shippers a seamless path from Clarington to Zone 6.

The proposal includes a new Transco lateral in northern New Jersey to a lower Manhattan delivery point, tying in with Consolidated Edison Co. of New York to boost Transco's delivery capability to New York City.

Williams has said Transco already delivers about half of the natural gas consumed in the Big Apple. Transco also serves other East Coast markets.

Seeking shipper commitments, Transco started a binding open season Tuesday, running to June 2. Clients would include natural gas suppliers originating from the Rockies, Appalachia, and the Marcellus shale regions.

The expansion proposal remains subject to approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other agencies.

This development parallels other Williams pipeline expansion projects.

In November, Angola LNG Supply Services LLC subscribed all 467,390 dekatherms per day of firm transportation capacity offered in Transco's binding open season for a 15-mile connector to the Gulf LNG Clean Energy import terminal near Pascagoula, Miss. This project, expected to come online in the second half of 2011, represents a joint development between Williams and Florida Gas Transmission.

In February, Williams subsidiary Northwest Pipeline GP started a binding open season for its 16-mile Sundance Trail expansion project in Wyoming. This also would use capacity on the proposed 29-mile lateral to Northwest's Colorado Hub Connection project. The Sundance Trail expansion could go hot in November 2010.

In March, Williams outlined a proposal to build a 618-mile pipeline with TransCanada Corp., further connecting Rocky Mountain producers with the West Coast. That project, called Sunstone Pipeline, also could be completed by 2011.

Business Services Industry

Tulsa-based Williams to extend Transco pipeline

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), May 7, 2008 by Kirby Lee Davis

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