Williams has acquired and commissioned the Norphlet deepwater gathering pipeline system, which was constructed by Shell Offshore and CNOOC Petroleum Offshore U.S.A.
The 16-inch pipeline extends 54 miles from the Appomattox Floating Production System operated by Shell, in 7,400ft water to the Transco Main Pass 261A junction platform located about 60 miles south of Mobile, Alabama.
First gas deliveries took place on 22 June 2019.
With the acquisition, Williams will be able to extend its pipeline network by connecting the company’s existing Transco offshore pipeline lateral to the prolific Jurassic play developed by Shell and CNOOC in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Williams president and CEO Alan Armstrong said: “Shell has exhibited a tremendous history of successful large-scale developments across the Gulf of Mexico and early indications here are for that to continue in this Jurassic play with their additional discoveries.”
Half of the Norphlet deepwater gas gathering pipeline system’s contractual capacity remains available for future producer discoveries in the area.
With a capacity to gather an estimated 261 to 291 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas, Norphlet connects more than 33,000 acres of dedicated leases to Williams’ Mobile Bay processing facility through the Transco lateral.
As part of the project, a spare subsea connector was installed for additional floating production system volumes. Additionally, modifications were made to Williams’ Mobile Bay processing facility including a 118% expansion to the slug handling capacity and a 329% increase in stabilising capacity.
