The FERC ruling was over a dispute between Williams and Energy Transfer that ET filed in April over Williams’ Louisiana Energy Gateway, a project designed to increase the area’s natural gas pipeline network’s capacity. (Source: Shutterstock)
A natural gas pipeline owned by Williams Cos. (WMB) does not need federal oversight, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled Sept. 27.
The decision is the latest outcome in a prolonged battle in Louisiana between Energy Transfer (ET) versus Williams and other midstream companies.
The FERC ruling was over a dispute between Williams and Energy Transfer that ET filed in April over Williams’ Louisiana Energy Gateway, a project designed to increase the area’s natural gas pipeline network’s capacity.
ET contested that a segment of Williams’ Louisiana Energy Gateway (LEG) project crossing the Texas-Louisiana border was a transport line instead of a gathering line and was, therefore, under federal jurisdiction.
At the time Arbo analyst Tom Sharp had said the dispute was “unusual,” in that it’s rare for one midstream company to call FERC’s attention to another midstream company’s project.
The FERC regulates transport lines crossing state boundaries, meaning that changing the designation of the pipeline network from “gathering” would require Williams to obtain federal permits to move the project forward, a lengthy process that can take years.
Williams disputed ET’s claim and sent notice to the FERC in July that construction on the LEG would move forward. Five months after Energy Transfer’s original petition, the FERC released a ruling siding with Williams.
“The pleadings filed by Energy Transfer and Williams are sufficient for us to conclude that the pipeline facilities at issue would not be subject to the commission’s jurisdiction,” the commissioners wrote in their ruling. “We also conclude that the commission’s test regarding gathering facilities requires no further clarification.”
Williams originally slated the LEG for completion in 2024; the project is now expected to be finished in 2025.
“With this ruling, Williams continues to prevail against Energy Transfer’s efforts to hinder the development of our project,” a spokesperson for Williams said in a statement emailed to Hart Energy. “Williams is investing significant resources in Louisiana to support growing demand for low-cost, reliable and clean natural gas and LNG, and we look forward to putting our LEG project into service by the second half of 2025.”
Energy Transfer did not answer a request for comment.
“The bottom line is the commission agreed with every response that Williams presented to Energy Transfer’s arguments and found LEG to either be a gathering line or, in the alternative, a combination of gathering and intrastate pipelines, either of which would remove it from FERC Jurisdiction,” Sharp said in an email to Hart following the ruling.
The company’s disputes in Louisiana first came before the government in 2023, when ET filed suits against Williams, DT Midstream and Momentum Midstream. Energy Transfer claimed its right of way were being violated. All three companies planned to build pipelines crossing its network, causing a safety issue, the company charged.
In 2023, one court ruled in favor of ET’s suit over DT Midstream. An appeals court reversed the decision in April, however. All rulings in the cases involving Williams and Momentum Midstream have since gone against Energy Transfer.
On Aug. 1, Williams reported the last of the court disputes had been resolved in its favor and it expected to finish the LEG in the second half of 2025.
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