Williams to add 4.2-bcfd of US natgas projects in 2024-2027, CEO says at Barclays conference
Sept 4 (Reuters) - U.S. natural gas company Williams Cos is on track to add 12 projects representing about 4.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of capacity from 2024-2027, company CEO Alan Armstrong said at the Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference on Wednesday.
The additions come after the company placed 17 projects representing about 5.0 bcfd of capacity into service from 2018-2023, the company said in a presentation.
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The new projects include the 1.8-bcfd Louisiana Energy Gateway gas pipe, which is under construction and expected to enter service in the second half of 2025, and the 1.6-bcfd Southeast Supply Enhancement, which is under development and could enter service in the fourth quarter of 2027.
One billion cubic feet is enough gas to supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.
Armstrong said the $1.45 billion Southeast Supply Enhancement would help meet growing demand from residential, commercial and industrial customers in several U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Southeast states, including the fast-growing demand for electricity from data centers.
"We're seeing a tremendous amount of growth effectively at the (power) utility level (for data centers and artificial intelligence) - so it's not us capturing that market directly - but we are more than happy to have the utilities capture that load and for us to serve the utilities," Armstrong said.
He said power demand for gas was increasing as coal-fired power plants are retired.
In addition, the company said it has about 30 projects under development representing about 11.5 bcfd of capacity and roughly $10.2 billion in capital expenditures in its backlog that could enter service from 2026-2032.
The company said the new projects would serve growing demand for gas from industrial, power generation and liquefied natural gas export customers in the future.
On mergers and acquisitions, Armstrong said the company's recent strategy has been to buy more gas storage, adding that it is "an area we continue to focus on."
Outside of gas storage, Armstrong said, "We have not seen anything that is attractive to us as bolt-on transactions where we have a lot of synergies that we can apply directly to those investments."
Earlier on Wednesday, Williams denied extending a buyout offer to U.S. energy firm Targa Resources.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Leslie Adler)