If there’s one thing Alan Armstrong, CEO and President of Williams Cos. is looking forward to in a second Donald Trump administration, it is the renewed development of energy infrastructure and the removal of constraints on energy development.
“The challenge is the infrastructure. It’s not a drilling issue. It’s not a supply issue,” said Armstrong during a Friday interview on the Fox Business TV show, The Claman Countdown.
“We have an opportunity. We used to play defense as it’s related to our national security on energy. Today, we’re in position to play strong offense.”
He emphasized the U.S. need for more and stronger development of its energy infrastructure, and not just natural gas for which his Tulsa-based company is known for providing through its 30,000 miles of pipelines. Williams owns and operates the pipelines including Transco and handles approximately 30% of the natural gas in the U.S.
“Any kind of infrastructure that we’re trying to build today is very difficult,” he told interviewer Liz Claman. “–it’s so risky to start a project and get it stopped.”
He pointed to two major gas projects into New York City that he said would have dramatically lowered the cost to consumers and lower emissions because it would have taken them off fuel oil.
“That ws a perfect example of the cost of building infrastructure and guess what? When the next project comes up for us to go to New York City, we’re gonna say, ‘you know, we’re not really interested putting at risk another $500 million to build a pipeline and have it stopped’.”
Armstrong said the company spent $400 million on one project and $170 million on the other “that didn’t produce any good for our country other than raise the cost of capital that it takes to bring the pipeline.”
Armstrong explained that the “environmental opposition and the difficulty with our permitting processes puts a very large cost to get the gas” into the market.
Without mentioning the Biden administration by name, he said the oil and gas industry is “constrained on LNG exports today” and because of it, U.S. allies are paying higher costs for what LNG is shipped overseas. If the constraints are removed, he said prices would be lower including to foreign allies.
The administration adopted a freeze on LNG export permits in January but it was overturned in July by a federal judge in Louisiana.
“The President’s (Trump) actuallly spot on, in terms of our abililty to lower prices to the consumer, without damaging the producers because what we really need to do is build the infrastructure out to allow us to continue to bild the energy that’s out there.”
He suggested the re-election of Donald Trump, the candidate who urged “drill baby drill” during his campaign, is a “real opportunity frankly,” adding that the only losers are the people that are wanting to stop “any and all infrastructure here in the U.S.”
Speculation is that Trump will re-instate or create even more restrictive sanctions against Iran once he takes office. Armstrong agrees and said it’s been needed.
He finds it amazing that “we put ourselves in a position of—loosening and not really enforcing the sanctions of both Venezuela and Iran for the sake of having lower gasoline prices.”
Instead, he believes there should be encouragement of the infrastructure and refinery build in the U.S.
“And that’s really what was the secret to that and not increasing oil production overseas. I think some common sense is gonna be awesome.”
Armstrong used the interview to emphasize the company’s advancement in reducing methane emissions, explaining Williams has managed to lower them to .0375%.
“We have the opportunity to do that around the world and that was without subsidy. That wasn’t a matter of the government having to pay for that just because we were able do that at low cost.”
