Industry

2020 was a tough year, but Williams delivered

Staff Reports

Williams President & CEO Alan Armstrong said despite a year of unprecedented challenges for the industry and company, Williams demonstrated incredible business resiliency.

“Our strong results in 2020 showed just how durable this business can be against several headwinds such as the COVID-19 pandemic and associated oil price collapse, major customer bankruptcies and an active hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico that exceeded anything from an outage standpoint that we had on record,” Armstrong said on a call this week to discuss 4th quarter and 2020 financial results.

Project success last year included early in-service capacity for Transco’s Leidy South, an expansion of Williams’ existing Pennsylvania infrastructure; Southeastern Trail, a Transco transmission expansion project to serve growing demand in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S; and Blue Stem Racer, a natural gas liquids (NGL) transportation pipeline.

Armstrong said that in addition to executing on our business in 2020 with predictability and stability, Williams accelerated on ESG performance. Last summer, Williams became the first U.S. midstream company to announce a climate commitment, setting an emissions reduction goal for 2030 that is based on real achievable targets and that imposes accountability on the management team setting these goals.

“We believe that focusing on the right here and right now opportunity sets us on a positive trajectory to achieving net zero target by 2050,” he said. “In addition, we co-led an industry effort to standardize ESG metrics with the Energy Infrastructure Council. And in January, we hosted the industry’s first ever ESG event specifically devoted to sharing the company’s direction, goals, aspirations, and tangible accomplishments related to ESG performance.”

Armstrong also recognized employees for ensuring the safe and reliable delivery of natural gas to America’s cities and communities not only this last week in the face of severe weather challenges but amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am extremely proud of our employees for their efforts to keep our operations running smoothly during these extreme circumstances while also going the extra mile to keep themselves and their co-workers safe and healthy.” You can read more about Williams 4th quarter and 2020 financial results here and watch the replay of the earnings event here.