Williams Adds MountainWest Assets for $1.5 Billion in Solid Transaction

We see Williams’ acquisition of the MountainWest system for $1.5 billion in cash and debt as a solid deal. While the assets are located in the Rocky Mountains and thus don’t offer direct linkages to Transco, the system offers additional investment opportunities for Williams to transport natural gas from a new major hub. We would expect these opportunities to mainly revolve around serving new LNG demand but also developing storage opportunities (MountainWest comes with 56 billion cubic feet of storage capacity) to serve as a backup for renewables intermittency. Those storage opportunities are increasingly valuable as a source of gas to market. Williams is bulking up its marketing effects, building on its 2021 Sequent deal with its recent joint venture with Sempra to market LNG globally.