Williams

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Dela. Riverkeeper Halts Transco Pipeline Upgrade with Lawsuit
March 16, 2015March 16, 2015

Someone needs to sue THE Delaware Riverkeeper (Maya van Rossum) the way that organization is suing legitimate and legal companies to block legitimate and legal activity in the Marcellus Shale. Delaware Riverkeeper apparently has endless bags of money, made available to them by the Park Foundation, Heinz Endowments and other anti-drilling “non-profit” groups, to file endless frivolous lawsuits. The latest is particularly insidious. Williams has just received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build a few loops–extra lengths of pipeline immediately next to existing pipeline–for the Transco Pipeline in northeast PA and in NJ (see FERC Approves Williams Leidy Southeast Project in PA/NJ). Part of the requirement by FERC is that Williams cannot cut down trees between April and October–a full seven months–to avoid “harming” the endangered Indiana bat that may (or may not) roost in those trees…
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Energy Services | Williams

Williams Hauls in $1B Cash from New IOUs, Paying Down Old Debt
March 4, 2015March 4, 2015

Not to be outdone by MarkWest that just raised $650 million in cash from new IOUs–MDN noted last week that Williams had gone shopping for several multiples of that amount (see Williams Goes Shopping for $3B, Floating Notes to Pay Down Debt). Williams reported yesterday they were successful in raising all $3 billion, some of which they’ll use to pay down older debt…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Williams

Latest Anti-Drilling Attack on Constitution Pipeline: “It’s Illegal”
March 3, 2015March 3, 2015

We’ve noticed a renewed effort on the part of anti-drillers to stop the already FERC-authorized Constitution Pipeline, slated to run from Susquehanna County, PA–where they can actually drill for natural gas–through upstate New York to Schoharie County (see FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY). New York State’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) must grant what’s called a 401 Water Quality Certificate that allows the Constitution to lay pipe through and under swamps, creeks and other bodies of water. The DEC held a series of public hearings on the Constitution (see Pro-Drillers Out in Force at Constitution Pipeline Hearing in Binghamton). Last week the time for public comment closed–which is why we’re now seeing anti-drillers launching a coordinated attack, as a last-ditch effort to stop the Constitution. Their attack includes sympathetic (and sycophantic) media stories and an attempt to re-brand the Constitution as “the Keystone XL pipeline of natural gas.” What a joke! Bobby Kennedy Jr. went on MSNBC (a network virtually no one watches) to make some outrageously false claims about the Constitution pipeline and FERC. It all adds up to a well-coordinated, well-funded attack by Big Environment trust funders…
Read More “Latest Anti-Drilling Attack on Constitution Pipeline: “It’s Illegal””
Energy Services | Williams

Williams Goes Shopping for $3B, Floating Notes to Pay Down Debt
March 2, 2015March 2, 2015

It’s not every day you go shopping…for 3 BILLION dollars. But that’s what Williams is doing. Williams recently consummated a deal to buy Access Midstream, formerly known as Chesapeake Midstream (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). Although we’ve also read it was the other way round–that Access swallowed Williams. At any rate, the combined companies, with major operations in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, have a staggering value of $50 billion (see Deal Details for Williams/Access Midstream Merger – TTV of $50B!). The wedding was Feb 2 and the happy couple need money–fast. So Williams (which is the name plate on the door) has gone shopping for $3B. They’re floating new notes (i.e. debts, or IOUs) in order to, yes, pay down older debts…
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Access Midstream Partners | Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Williams

PA Landowners File RICO Royalty Lawsuit Against Chesapeake/Williams
February 19, 2015February 19, 2015

Along with acquiring Access Midstream (formerly Chesapeake Midstream), Williams has just acquired a brand new lawsuit. Two Bradford County, PA law firms along with a New Jersey law firm on Tuesday filed a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuit on behalf of 90 landowners in Bradford County against Chesapeake Energy and Williams Partners (because Williams is now the owner of what was Access Midstream) claiming Chessy and Williams/Access conspired to defraud landowners of royalty money by deducting post-production expenses they had no right to deduct…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

Williams CEO Says Pipeline Opposition Equals More Coal Use
February 13, 2015February 13, 2015

In a recent interview, the CEO of Williams, Alan Armstrong, was quite candid: The problem slowing natural gas pipeline development is not the low price of oil and gas–it’s politics. Armstrong says he would prefer federal oversight, by FERC, shutting out “local voices” that muck up the works. We’re not sure we totally agree with that viewpoint. Freedom and liberty are messy things, but we understand his sentiment. Armstrong points out there’s no one “who’s in charge” when it comes to pipelines, and process which makes for endless debates and trying to reconcile innumerable opinions…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Transco | Williams

Convicted Lancaster Protesters Taunt Williams After Court Date
February 9, 2015February 9, 2015

It’s kind of funny how eight anti-drillers can conflate themselves to seem as if they represent untold thousands. They get themselves arrested for a lawless act and they’re actually proud of it–like they’ve accomplished something with their lives. We’ve been following the somewhat bizarre story of the “Conestoga 8” in Lancaster County, PA who are trying to stop the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project. One of the eight is supposedly a Native American (i.e. Indian) who goes by the name of Chief Carlos Whitewolf (see Indians on the War Path Against Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA and Indians on the Anti-Pipeline War Path – Part 2). Except his last name isn’t really Whitewolf–it’s Rivera. Huh. A “Native American” with a very Hispanic first and last name. That’s a new one. Anywho, Chief Whitewolf-Rivera is protesting on behalf of the Conestoga people–who have been extinct for generations. He’s asking the United Nations to step in and stop the pipeline, on behalf of the long-dead Conestogas (see Lancaster, PA Antis Request United Nations Interfere in Pipeline). Chief Whitewolf-Rivera and the other small band of ne’er do wells had their day in court, and then they went on a field trip to the local Williams office straight from court to see if they could get arrested again…
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Access Midstream Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Williams

It’s Official: Williams and Access Midstream Tie the Knot
February 3, 2015February 3, 2015

Several weeks ago MDN told you that yesterday, Feb. 2, would be the big wedding day for the merger (actually takeover) of Access Midstream by Williams (see Wedding Day: Williams & Access Midstream Get Hitched on Feb 2). The wedding took place as planned and the marriage is now happily consummated. The groom was Williams (grooms are always men…pushy and domineering ya know). The bride was sweet Access Midstream, previously known as Chesapeake Midstream. Bride Access took the Williams name as of yesterday, creating a midstream behemoth whose market capitalization will come close to rivaling the country’s largest midstream company, Kinder Morgan…
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Blue Racer Midstream | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conf: $30B of NE Infrastructure Needed
January 30, 2015January 30, 2015

Day two, and the concluding day at the Hart Energy Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conference in Pittsburgh, proved as interesting as the first day (for a day one recap, see Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conf: Marcellus is “Best of the Best”). One of the speakers on day two was Scott Williams, executive VP and chief commercial officer for Blue Racer Midstream, who spoke about his company’s processing plants in the northeast. Blue Racer’s Natrium, WV plant connects to Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner West ethane pipeline, which carts Blue Racer’s ethane to Sarnia, Ontario (Canada) and the Nova Chemicals Corunna ethane cracker. Blue Racer also operates the Berne processing plant in Monroe County, OH. According to Williams, “in excess of $30 billion worth of infrastructure still needs to be built” in the northeast. Wow! That should keep a variety of companies busy for a while. A VP from midstream giant Williams (which recently bought out Access Midstream) agrees…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Williams

Indians on the Anti-Pipeline War Path – Part 2
January 20, 2015January 20, 2015

Last week MDN told you about Indian Chief Carlos Whitewolf from the Northern Arawak Tribal Nation of Pennsylvania (see Indians on the War Path Against Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA). Chief Whitewolf’s tribe doesn’t have any land in Lancaster County, PA. And there are no surviving members of the Conestoga tribe that once did have land in Lancaster County. But that hasn’t stopped Chief Whitewolf from carrying out his stated threat. The good chief warned that he would “make noise, protest and rally, block bulldozers” to prevent the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline from taversing the “sacred land” of the now-dead Conestogas. What we didn’t realize is that he’d already done so, getting himself arrested on Jan. 5…
Read More “Indians on the Anti-Pipeline War Path – Part 2”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Transco | Williams

Transco Pipeline Hits New Record High in January
January 20, 2015January 20, 2015

As MDN pointed out last week, Williams is spending $100 million per month in the northeast (see Williams Spending $100 million Per Month in the Marcellus/Utica). Some of that money is spent to expand/extend/enhance the might Transco pipeline–a 10,200-mile pipeline that runs from South Texas to New York City. It is one of the most important natural gas pipelines in the country. Williams recently reported the might Transco hit another new record high in early January for the amount of gas it flows…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lancaster County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Williams

Indians on the War Path Against Pipeline in Lancaster County, PA
January 16, 2015January 16, 2015

A “native American” (i.e. Indian) tribe in Lancaster County, PA doesn’t want the Williams Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline to traverse “sacred” land, and they’re willing to “make noise, protest and rally, block bulldozers” to stop it, according to Chief Carlos Whitewolf. The good Chief Whitewolf is from the Northern Arawak Tribal Nation of Pennsylvania, which arrived in PA in 1898, long after PA was already part of the United States of America. But it gets stranger. There is no Arawak land in Lancaster County. However, there is Conestoga land, belonging to a different tribe. But the Conestoga tribe was “wiped out,” so there are no Conestoga Indians in Lancaster County either. But the good Chief Whitewolf feels an obligation to stick up for them, even though they are no more…
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Allegheny County | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Williams Spending $100 million Per Month in the Marcellus/Utica
January 14, 2015January 14, 2015

There’s an excellent regional television program in Pittsburgh called “Our Region’s Business” hosted by veteran reporter Bill Flannigan. On December 7, Jim Scheel, Senior Vice President for Northeast G&P for Williams, appeared in a segment on the program (video embedded below). Scheel shared some eye-popping statistics about the Marcellus/Utica, and about Williams and their commitment to the region. Scheel said, among many things in the short 7-minute segment, that in 2014 Williams spent an astonishing $100 million per month on pipeline projects in the northeast region. They currently employ 750 people in the northeast and over the next year or so expect to add another 160 people to the payroll. What an exciting, dynamic company! Here’s a few more stats Scheel mentioned…
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Access Midstream Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M&A | Williams

Wedding Day: Williams & Access Midstream Get Hitched on Feb 2
January 13, 2015January 13, 2015

It looks like February 2, 2015 will be the day of the wedding for Williams and Access Midstream. In June 2014, Williams announced a friendly takeover/merger with Access Midstream (see Big News: Williams Partners Buying Access Midstream for $6B). Access was once Chesapeake Midstream, spun off into its own company. Both Williams and Access have major operations in the Marcellus/Utica region. The takeover is going just fine and Access stocks will be distributed/swapped/split/converted/traded/whatever (makes our eyes glaze over just to read it) on Friday, January 30. By the time it’s all hashed out over the weekend, when trading begins on Monday, February 2, Access will be part of Williams…
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Broome County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide NY | Williams

Pro-Drillers Out in Force at Constitution Pipeline Hearing in Binghamton
January 13, 2015January 14, 2021

Last night MDN editor Jim Willis “took one for the team” and attended a New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hearing in Binghamton, NY on the application of the Constitution Pipeline. Even though the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved the Constitution, the state DEC must grant a 401 Water Quality Certificate that allows the Constitution to lay pipe through and under swamps, creeks and other bodies of water. According to one of the speakers last night, there are 270+ such bodies of water along the Constitution’s route. The session was lively, as they usually are. It was also predictable–well, mostly predictable. We can honestly say if you’ve been to one such hearing you’ve been to all of them (see Vicariously Attend FERC Scoping Hearing on Constitution Pipeline). The one big difference we detected at last night’s hearing is that landowners and labor union workers (in favor of the pipeline) far outnumbered those against the pipeline. Judging by the clapping, booing and other audience feedback, we’d peg the crowd of 250 or so at about 75% in favor of the pipeline, 25% against. What got things kicked off early was an address by a full-throated Communist (who was against the pipeline)…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Transco | Williams

Reporter Falls for Delaware Riverkeeper Anti-Pipeline Bamboozle
January 8, 2015January 8, 2015

THE Delaware Riverkeeper and anti-driller, Maya van Rossum, continues her bamboozling ways. van Rossum finds conspiracy and evil intent behind every new pipeline project (or shale well) she hears about–and she’s only too glad to spread FUD–fear, uncertainty and doubt–about every announced project. The latest “angle” by van Rossum is to say when a huge pipeline company like Williams plans expansions to its largest pipeline system, the mighty Transco (10,200 miles of interstate pipelines), if Williams doesn’t combine all of those expansions in different geographic locations into one big, massive project, they’re trying to hide something. They’re trying to game the system. They’re trying to downplay the so-called environmental impacts all of those projects collectively will have on Precious Mother Earth. It’s just more fast talking by van Rossum…
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