Williams Announces Open Season for Transco Western Marcellus Pipeline Project

Williams (NYSE: WMB) has announced that it is initiating an open season from September 3 to September 29, 2014 for the Western Marcellus Pipeline Project, an expansion of the Transco interstate pipeline to provide incremental firm natural gas transportation capacity to growing markets in the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States by late 2018. Transco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams Partners, L.P. (NYSE: WPZ), of which Williams owns controlling interests and is the general partner.

The Western Marcellus Pipeline Project is being designed to provide from one billion to in excess of two billion cubic feet per day of new natural gas transportation capacity from receipt points in the Western Marcellus and Utica supply areas to points as far south as Transco’s Zone 3 compressor station 65 in Mississippi and as far north as the proposed Zone 6 River Road point in Pennsylvania. The project would connect Williams’ Ohio Valley Midstream processing and gathering system in northern West Virginia with the Transco pipeline, the largest volume pipeline system in the United States.

The project is being designed to consist of a greenfield pipeline extending from the Rockies Express pipeline near Clarington, Ohio, and Williams Oak Grove processing plant in Marshall County, West Virginia, to Transco compressor station 165 in southern Virginia. From there, mainline modifications would allow both northbound flow to the proposed River Road point and southbound flow to Station 65 for significant portions of the project capacity.

The final capacity, scope and cost of the project will be determined by the results of the open season.

"The Western Marcellus Pipeline Project will for the first time offer Western Marcellus and Utica producers serviced by Williams’ Ohio Valley Midstream direct access to the broad range of Transco markets in the Mid-Atlantic and southeastern states, as far south as Florida," said Rory Miller, senior vice president of Williams' Atlantic-Gulf Operating Area. "In addition, this groundbreaking project would provide enhanced supply access for burgeoning Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast markets accessible through our Station 65 pool."

The proposed project will be subject to approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other agencies. For customer inquiries, contact James Corley at (713) 215-4607.

The Western Marcellus Pipeline Project is in addition to the $3.3 billion in capital expenditures planned through 2017 on Transco growth projects designed to serve markets in the Northeast. Transco is the nation's largest and fastest-growing interstate natural gas transmission pipeline system. It delivers natural gas to customers through its 10,200-mile pipeline network whose mainline extends nearly 1,800 miles between South Texas and New York City. The system is a major provider of cost-effective natural gas services that reach U.S. markets in 12 Southeast and Atlantic Seaboard states, including major metropolitan areas in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

About Williams (NYSE: WMB)

Williams, headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., is one of the leading energy infrastructure companies in North America. It owns controlling interests in both Williams Partners L.P. and Access Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ACMP) through its ownership of 100 percent of the general partner of each partnership. Additionally, Williams owns approximately 66 percent and 50 percent of the limited partner units of Williams Partners L.P. and Access Midstream Partners, L.P., respectively.

Williams Partners L.P. owns and operates both on-shore and offshore assets of approximately 15,000 miles of natural gas gathering and transmission pipelines, 1,800 miles of NGL transportation pipelines, an additional 11,000 miles of oil and gas gathering pipelines and numerous other energy infrastructure assets. The partnership's facilities have daily gas processing capacity of 6.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas, NGL production of more than 200,000 barrels per day and domestic olefins production capacity of 1.35 billion pounds of ethylene and 90 million pounds of propylene per year.

Access Midstream Partners, L.P. owns, operates, develops and acquires natural gas gathering systems and other midstream energy assets. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the partnership’s operations are focused on the Barnett, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Marcellus, Niobrara and Utica Shales and the Mid-Continent region of the U.S.

For more information about Williams, Williams Partners and Access Midstream Partners, visit www.williams.com, www.williamslp.com and www.accessmidstream.com.

Portions of this document may constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined by federal law. Although the company believes any such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that actual outcomes will not be materially different. Any such statements are made in reliance on the “safe harbor” protections provided under the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Additional information about issues that could lead to material changes in performance is contained in the company’s annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.