Williams has reached an agreement with Shell Offshore and Chevron USA to provide certain services for the Whale deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico.
As agreed, Williams will provide offshore natural gas gathering and crude oil transportation services for the project.
The scope of works will also include providing onshore natural gas processing services.
The move comes around a week after Royal Dutch Shell made a final investment decision (FID) for the Whale oil field development.
Williams chief operating officer Micheal Dunn said: “Our asset synergies in the Gulf of Mexico are second to none, and we are pleased to strengthen our existing onshore and offshore infrastructure to further serve the growing needs of deepwater producers.
“The development of Whale expands Williams’ footprint in the Gulf by contracting one of the largest discoveries in the past decade and creating future connection opportunities for producers that will capture the full value of these important deepwater resources.”
Williams noted that it is planning to bolster its Gulf of Mexico offshore infrastructure by building a 25-mile gas lateral pipeline from the Whale platform to the existing Perdido gas pipeline and another 125-mile oil pipeline to the existing Williams-owned GA-A244 junction platform.
The procured natural gas will be transported to the company’s Markham gas processing plant in Texas. Production is expected to start in 2024.
The Whale deepwater field is expected to contain recoverable resources of around 490 million barrels of oil equivalent.
The field is operated by Shell with a 60% working interest while Chevron USA holds the remaining stake.
