Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Infrastructure-focused company Williams said Friday it would work with Chevron to support development of U.S. shale basins and production from the Gulf of Mexico.
Williams said it would support Chevron with the development of the Haynesville shale basin as part of its broader Louisiana Energy Gateway.
Williams made a final investment decision on the energy gateway project in June. The aim is to gather as much as 1.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from Haynesville and deliver it to industrial markets and support the increased demand for exports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Haynesville, which straddles the border of Texas and Louisiana, is the third-largest shale natural gas producer in the country, with production expected to reach 16.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day on average in March.
Related
More natural gas may be needed to support the growing importance of LNG on the global market. Economies of scale are looking to LNG to replace supplies lost to Western-backed sanctions on Russia.
The Freeport LNG facility in Texas is offline following a June fire, but it's expected to return to full capacity before the second quarter. That supports a federal forecast for an 11% increase in total U.S. LNG exports this year.
Elsewhere, Williams said it would offer gathering and transportation services to support Chevron's work in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Chevron is working to link additional production wells to its Blind Faith platform, which has a peak capacity to produce 75,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The U.S. territorial waters of the Gulf of Mexico account for about 15% of the nation's total crude oil and natural gas production.
Alan Armstrong, the president and CEO at Williams, said working with Chevron supports broad-based gains in the U.S. energy sector.
"We are proud to take another step in advancing the output potential of two of the most prolific production areas in North America," he said.
