Williams Buys Momentum Midstream for $5.5B, Expands LNG Pipe Network

Williams Cos. agreed to buy Momentum Midstream LLC from EnCap Flatrock Midstream in a deal valued at up to $5.5 billion, adding natural gas pipeline capacity along the U.S. Gulf Coast as LNG export demand surges.

Williams will pay $3.5 billion in cash and debt consideration and roughly $2 billion in stock, the company said Monday. Shares rose about 1.9% after the close of regular New York trading after Williams also reported second-quarter results that beat analyst estimates.

The acquisition is one of the largest for Williams and strengthens its hold in the Haynesville shale region of East Texas and northern Louisiana. Pipeline operators across the U.S. have been racing to connect a wave of liquefied natural gas export terminals under construction. The U.S., already the top LNG exporter globally, is expected to roughly double its international shipments by the end of the decade as new terminals in Texas and Louisiana enter service.

Houston-based Momentum Midstream operates 4,000 miles of pipelines with capacity of 6 billion cubic feet of gas per day. Those lines feed LNG facilities, power plants and industrial customers along the Gulf Coast from the Haynesville, the nearest major gas-producing basin to Gulf export hubs.