All that frigid weather in the eastern part of the U.S. last week led to a record amount of natural gas delivered by Williams Partners L.P. on its Transco interstate gas pipeline.
While environmentalists have fought extensions of the line, there didn’t appear to be any opposition to the natural gas being used to provide heat in the frigid states from the far northeast to the gulf coast.
The nation’s largest-volume natural gas transmission system, Transco delivered a record-breaking 15.58 million dekatherms (MMdt) on Jan. 5, 2018, according to an announcement by the Tulsa-based company.
The new peak-day mark surpasses the previous high that was set on Jan. 1, 2018. The Transco system, which stretches from South Texas to New York City, also established a new three-day market area delivery record, averaging 14.90 MMdt from Jan. 4 to Jan. 6, 2018.
The natural gas delivery records were made possible thanks to additional firm transportation capacity created by five fully-contracted Transco expansions completed in 2017. Together, Transco’s “Big 5” expansions (Gulf Trace, Hillabee Phase 1, Dalton, New York Bay and Virginia Southside II) added more than 2.8 MMdt of firm transportation capacity to the existing pipeline system.
“The incremental capacity from the fully-contracted Transco expansion projects placed into service in 2017 reflects an increase of more than 25 percent in Transco’s design capacity – which helped us be in position to meet the growing demand needs of our customers,” said Alan Armstrong, chief executive officer of Williams Partners’ general partner. “Our focused strategy on natural gas infrastructure in support of consistent and sustainable growth in gas volumes continues to enhance our ability to meet the increasing demand for natural gas for heating, industrial use, clean-power generation and LNG as highlighted by these recent delivery records.”
As natural gas demand continues to increase, construction is currently underway on two additional Transco projects (Atlantic Sunrise and Garden State Phase II), which are designed to create approximately 1.9 MMdt of additional pipeline capacity in 2018.
Transco, the nation’s largest-volume and fastest-growing interstate natural gas pipeline system, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Partners L.P. Transco delivers natural gas to customers through its 10,200-mile pipeline network whose mainline extends nearly 1,800 miles between South Texas and New York City. The system is a major provider of cost-effective natural gas services that reaches U.S. markets in 12 Southeast and Atlantic Seaboard states, as well as international markets.