Williams announced Tuesday that its Transco pipeline is holding a binding open season from May 6 to June 2 to obtain shipper commitments for an expansion designed to connect domestic natural gas supplies originating from the Rockies, Appalachia, and the emerging Marcellus shale supply regions to growing markets on the East Coast.
Williams held non-binding open seasons in late 2007 for its proposed Rockies Connector Pipeline and Transco's Northeast Connector Project. After discussions with potential shippers, Williams now has combined the two projects and plans to construct and operate them as an expansion of its existing Transco pipeline system. The combined projects will be known as the Northeast Supply Project.
"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."
The proposed Northeast Supply Project includes a 250-mile extension of the Transco system that would connect the Rockies Express Pipeline near Clarington, Ohio to Transco's mainline in southeastern Pennsylvania. The project also provides for an expansion of Transco's existing system, giving shippers a seamless path from Clarington to delivery points in Transco's Zone 6. Included in the expansion is a proposed new lateral from Transco's existing pipeline in northern New Jersey to a new delivery point in lower Manhattan. The new delivery point would tie-in with Consolidated Edison Company of New York, significantly increasing natural gas delivery capability to New York City. Firm transportation service is anticipated to be available as early as November 2011.
The proposed expansion will be subject to approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other agencies. For customer inquiries, contact Gary Duvall at (713) 215-2589 or Nancy Hargrove at (713) 215-2926.
Williams, through its subsidiaries, primarily finds, produces, gathers, processes and transports natural gas. The company also manages a legacy wholesale power business that it has agreed to sell, with closing expected before the end of 2007. Williams' operations are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Gulf Coast, and Eastern Seaboard.
