Energy Transfer on April 8 escalated its dispute over a Williams Cos. natural gas project, petitioning the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to determine whether the Louisiana Energy Gateway is an interstate pipeline developed without the commission’s approval.
“LEG looks like a transmission pipeline, will apparently operate like a transmission pipeline and its developer talks about it like it’s a transmission pipeline—but despite all that, Williams insists it’s a gathering line,” Dallas-based Energy Transfer contended in its 1,600-page filing.
The company also asks the regulator to decide whether a seven-factor test should be applied to determine whether Louisiana Energy Gateway is a gathering or transmission line as defined by the National Gas Act. A gathering line would not fall under FERC’s jurisdiction, but a transmission line would.
The 1.8-Bcf/d capacity project is designed to move natural gas from the Haynesville Shale to coastal Louisiana LNG export terminals beginning in 2025. The dispute with Energy Transfer has forced Williams to adjust its pipeline routes and push back its start date from fourth-quarter 2024.
“But we are pushing ahead and the project’s actually going fairly well,” Williams CEO Alan Armstrong told journalists last month at CERAWeek by S&P Global.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Williams said “Energy Transfer’s FERC complaint is another step by Energy Transfer to stifle competition in Louisiana. Williams looks forward to working with FERC on this matter.”
Energy Transfer co-CEO Thomas Long acknowledged during the company’s first-quarter earnings call with analysts that it had been accused of stifling competition by refusing right-of-way access on projects that would cross Energy Transfer’s pipelines. The company also seeks to expand its Gulf Run system to transport gas to LNG terminals.
Recommended Reading
Chord Juggles Closing $4B Enerplus Deal, Plans to Drill 4-mile Laterals
2024-05-10 - Chord Energy expects to close its Enerplus acquisition by the end of May but, for now, is focused on three-mile and, eventually, four-mile laterals in the Williston Basin.
Ohio Oil, Appalachia Gas Plays Ripe for Consolidation
2024-04-09 - With buyers “starved” for top-tier natural gas assets, Appalachia could become a dealmaking hotspot in the coming years. Operators, analysts and investors are also closely watching what comes out of the ground in the Ohio Utica oil fairway.
Chesapeake-Southwestern Deal Delayed Amid Feds Scrutiny of E&P M&A
2024-04-05 - The Federal Trade Commission asked Chesapeake and Southwestern for more information about their $7.4 billion merger — triggering an automatic 30-day waiting period as the agency intensifies scrutiny of E&P deals.
FTC Strikes Again: Diamondback’s $26B Endeavor Merger Delayed
2024-04-30 - Diamondback Energy, which was nearing the end of a regulatory review period of its merger with Endeavor Energy Resources, is the latest E&P to see a deal postponed by the Federal Trade Commission.
NuStar Energy Unitholders Approve Merger with Sunoco
2024-05-02 - The transaction is expected to close on or about May 3, in which NuStar Energy LP will merge with and into a merger subsidiary of Sunoco LP.