Williams Files with FERC to Expand Mighty Transco Pipe in Southeast
Last November, MDN brought you the news that pipeline giant Williams planned to proceed with a new Transco pipeline expansion project called the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (see Transco Expansion to Add 1.4 Bcf/d Capacity to Flow M-U Gas South). The project was estimated to flow an extra 1.43 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) of Marcellus/Utica molecules southward along the Transco pipeline system, delivering those molecules to states in the southern U.S. Williams later upped the capacity to 1.587 Bcf/d (essentially from 1.4 to 1.6). Williams pre-filed with FERC earlier this year (see Williams Pre-Pre-Files for Southeast Supply Enhancement Project). On Tuesday, now a year later, Williams finally filed the full, official request with FERC to build the project. Big Green (and their high-priced lawyers) immediately jumped on the filing. Read More “Williams Files with FERC to Expand Mighty Transco Pipe in Southeast”
While there are a number of interstate pipelines that crisscross the Marcellus/Utica, there is one pipeline system that is key to moving molecules out of our region to other markets, particularly in the southeast and the Gulf Coast: Transcontinental Gas Pipeline LLC (Transco), owned by Williams. Transco stretches from the Gulf Coast to New York City and was originally designed to flow gas produced in the Gulf northward. A number of years ago, Williams reversed the flow on Transco, and most of the time, it now flows M-U molecules southward to Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and beyond. When sections of Transco undergo maintenance, flows are reduced, driving down spot prices for natgas sold by drillers to the pipeline but raising the price paid by customers on the other end of the pipeline. And when maintenance is done and flows return, it reverses. 
On July 12, Williams asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to bring the final pieces of the Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project online by the end of July (see 
The CEO of midstream giant Williams, Alan Armstrong, spoke at the Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference yesterday. He gave conference attendees an update on the many (many!) projects Williams has recently completed, is currently completing, and is likely to complete in the future. The company is on track, said Armstrong, to add 12 new pipeline projects representing about 4.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of capacity from 2024-2027. Looking further out, the company said it has about 30 projects under development, representing about 11.5 Bcf/d of capacity from 2028-2032. That’s a staggering 15.7 Bcf/d of new capacity coming online from this one company. How much of it is in the Marcellus/Utica? 
In 2015, a group of nearly 60 landowners in northeastern Pennsylvania who had leased their land for fracking filed a lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy, Anadarko, Statoil (now Equinor), Mitsui E&P, and Access Midstream (later bought by Williams), alleging the companies had improperly deducted post-production costs (e.g., gas gathering and transportation expenses) from royalties owed to the landowners in breach of their respective leases. The lawsuit also alleged collusion and conspiracy to defraud the landowners. The lawsuit was on hold for many years while other lawsuits played out. Earlier this year, a federal court in Scranton unpaused this lawsuit, and yesterday, the judge ruled, tossing out the landowners’ claims.
Recently, we’ve told you about the coming demand for natural gas to generate electricity that data centers and artificial intelligence will need (see 
What had been a regular stream of talk about providing power to data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) has become a torrent. There is a clear connection between data centers and the natural gas industry. This most recent round of quarterly financial updates by the biggest of the big pipeline companies (all of which have a huge presence in the Marcellus/Utica) reveals a new opportunity: building natgas pipelines directly to data centers. Why? Because increasingly those data centers are considering making their own power.
Pipeline giant Williams, with major assets in the Marcellus/Utica and the owner of the mighty Transco pipeline that flows huge quantities of M-U gas south and southwest, issued its second quarter 2024 update yesterday. CEO Alan Armstrong called attention to the “crisp execution of key projects” that will benefit the company. Among those projects was the BIG news that the company’s Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project went fully online on August 1st. Also prominently mentioned was the completion of the company’s Marcellus South gathering expansion project.
On July 12, Williams asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to bring the final pieces of the Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project online by the end of July (see 
This is so frustrating. A panel of three extremely liberal (wildly left) Democrat judges sitting on the U.S. Court of Appeals — two appointed by Joementia and the other appointed by Lord Obama — have overturned a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval of the $1 billion Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project that is already up and running and delivering extra natural gas supplies to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. The three-judge panel ruled that FERC didn’t seriously consider man-made global warming when approving the project. The frustrating thing is that FERC is NOT an environmental agency; it’s an economic agency. Look it up — it’s in the FERC charter. Yet the libs are now demanding FERC become something it is not, an environmental agency that considers mythical global warming before it can approve new pipeline projects. Mission accomplished for the Bidenistas and Obamadroids. No doubt the Cackleistas would also approve of this bastardization of FERC.
This is BIG (and really great) news… Williams has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for permission to bring the final pieces of the Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project online by the end of this month. REAE expands the mighty Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to deliver an extra 829 MMcf/d of Marcellus gas to PA, NJ, and Maryland. About 450,000 MMcf/d of the total capacity went online in late 2023 along Transco’s Leidy Line in Pennsylvania (see 
Williams’ Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project involves expanding the mighty Transco pipeline in Pennsylvania and New Jersey to deliver an extra 829 MMcf/d of Marcellus gas to PA, NJ, and Maryland. Part of the project was completed and went online last year (see 
As we mentioned in a companion post today, the Williams Transco Regional Energy Access Expansion (REAE) project recently received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to begin operations for another segment of the REAE project, flowing an extra 130 MMcf/d of natural gas to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland (see FERC OKs Request to Place More of Regional Energy Access Online). However, yesterday, Williams suffered a minor legal setback related to the REAE project.