Tulsa’s Williams Cos. signed an agreement this week with another firm to help increase the company’s efforts to transport more natural gas out of the Haynesville basin to meet growing LNG export demand along the Gulf Coast and around the world.
The company reached an agreement with Sempra Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Sempra. Under the non-binding heads of agreement, elements of an integrated platform will be established to export more natural gas.
The HOA contemplates long-term gas sales of approximately 0.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) delivered near Gillis, Louisiana, and two LNG offtake agreements for approximately 3 million tons per annum (mtpa) in the aggregate from Sempra Infrastructure’s proposed Cameron LNG Phase 2 and Port Arthur LNG projects.
These proposed transactions complement Williams’ recently sanctioned low-carbon Louisiana Energy Gateway (LEG) gathering project and are expected to include connections to pipelines serving Sempra Infrastructure’s LNG export facilities.
As part of the proposed transaction, Williams and Sempra Infrastructure plan to form a strategic joint venture to own, expand and operate the Cameron Interstate Pipeline that is expected to deliver natural gas to the proposed Cameron LNG Phase 2 in Hackberry, Louisiana.
Additional pipelines are also expected to be owned by the joint venture, including the Louisiana Connector Pipeline expected to deliver natural gas to Sempra Infrastructure’s proposed Port Arthur LNG facility, located in Port Arthur, Texas.
“Williams is pleased to pursue this strategic transaction with Sempra Infrastructure. We see it as an opportunity to combine our capabilities along the natural gas value chain and increase the delivery of low-carbon, affordable and reliable natural gas from the wellhead to the growing international market,” said Alan Armstrong, president and CEO of Williams.
“Facilitating the delivery of next generation natural gas to ease energy constraints at home and overseas, while also helping to meet domestic and global climate goals, is central to our natural gas focused strategy, and we look forward to being well aligned with Sempra Infrastructure’s unique capabilities and competitive advantages in the LNG infrastructure space. Coupling our strengths in the midstream infrastructure space will allow us to provide unrivaled access to international markets for our producing customers.”
“We are excited to continue advancing our U.S. Gulf Coast LNG and associated pipeline projects as we work to help satisfy a growing global demand for cleaner, more reliable energy sources,” said Justin Bird, CEO of Sempra Infrastructure.
“We look forward to advancing our relationship with Williams, a like-minded company that shares our commitment to building a future of energy abundance, affordability and security.”
Williams’ LEG project, which is expected to go into service in late 2024, will gather 1.8 Bcf/d of natural gas produced in the Haynesville basin. Williams, through partnerships with Context Labs, Encino Environmental and Satlantis, is integrating technology solutions into the project to enable the measurement of end-to-end, verifiable and transparent emissions data to demonstrate the low carbon benefits of produced and delivered Haynesville natural gas.
Williams is also exploring the enhancement of the LEG project with the addition of carbon capture and storage infrastructure that will further decarbonize the natural gas value chain.
