Kern River Expansion Completed Ahead of Schedule

Williams Completes 2001 Kern River Expansion Ahead of Schedule
SALT LAKE CITY -- A unit of Williams (NYSE: WMB) completed construction of expansion facilities on its Kern River natural gas transmission system on July 1. Williams filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on March 15 for a certificate of approval to proceed with the expansion project, adding 135,000 dekatherms per day of firm transportation service from Wyoming to California.
"We received FERC approval within three weeks of filing - an unprecedented turnaround. This allowed us to expedite the construction process and bring additional supplies of natural gas to the California market," said Kirk Morgan, director of business development for Kern River. "We anticipate most of the new natural gas will go directly to power generation facilities."
The emergency expansion project added two new compressor stations in Utah and one in California, as well as upgraded compressor units at three existing compressor stations in Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. The installation of these facilities increased the transportation capacity on Kern River by approximately 19 percent. Williams completed the multimillion project more than three weeks ahead of schedule.
"The extraordinary effort put forth by our contractors, employees and permitting agencies resulted in a successful completion of the project ahead of schedule," stated Micheal Dunn, manager of project management for Kern River.
With a system that spans the continental United States, Williams' gas pipeline unit is one of the nation's largest-volume transporters of natural gas. The company is based in Houston and has offices in Salt Lake City and Owensboro, Ky. The gas pipeline unit's Kern River Gas Transmission operates a 922-mile system delivering Rocky Mountain and Canadian natural gas to markets in California, Nevada, and Utah. The expanded system has a design capacity of 835 million cubic feet per day.
About Williams (NYSE: WMB)
Williams, through its subsidiaries, connects businesses to energy, delivering innovative, reliable projects and services. Williams information is available at <http://www.williams.com<;.
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