Williams on Wednesday hit the green light for the Louisiana Energy Gateway (LEG), a 1.8 Bcf/d natural gas system designed to move Haynesville Shale supply to industrial markets and for export overseas.

Williams Footprint

The LEG system, set for service by late 2024, would deliver Haynesville gas to industrial corridors and to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects on the Gulf Coast. In addition, supply could be transported via Williams’ mainstay system, Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line, aka Transco. 

“The Louisiana Energy Gateway is a key component of our low carbon, wellhead-to-water strategy, proving up what an important role natural gas can play in reducing emissions, lowering costs and providing secure and reliable energy at home and around the world,” saidCEO Alan Armstrong. 

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“By leveraging our scale, value chain integration and unique capabilities, we are unlocking capacity for Haynesville production growth and facilitating the delivery of next generation gas to meet the climate goals and the energy needs of our customers and our country.”

The Tulsa-based giant in May said it would spend around $1.5 billion to expand gas transport capacity by almost 2 Bcf/d over the next few years. Armstrong has said the company plans to create opportunities to increase market access. Williams also is pursuing carbon capture and storage infrastructure as it works to decarbonize the natural gas value chain. 

Sanctioning the LEG system also “supports Williams’ partnerships with Context Labs, Encino Environmental and Satlantis,” the company said. Their technology would be integrated into the project and enable measuring “end-to-end, verifiable and transparent emissions data” to demonstrate the low emissions of the Haynesville supply.

“Williams is committed to incorporating emerging technologies to deliver the next generation of natural gas,” said Senior Vice President Chad Zamarin, head of Corporate Strategic Development. “LEG is also ideally positioned to incorporate carbon capture and storage as a further decarbonizing solution for natural gas production in the rapidly growing Haynesville basin.”

Earlier this year, Williams signed a memorandum of understanding with Quantum Energy Partners to form a joint venture that could enable Quantum to become an equity investor and partner in the project.