Williams Partners Completes Two Pipeline Expansions to Provide Additional Natural Gas Service to Southeast

TULSA, Okla., May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) announced today that it has placed into service two expansions on its Transco natural gas pipeline, adding a combined 598,500 dekatherms per day of firm transportation capacity to serve markets in the southeastern United States.

Placed into service May 1, 2011, new service from the Mobile Bay South II expansion project created an additional 380,000 dekatherms per day of southbound firm transportation capacity on the Mobile Bay Lateral from Transco's mainline at Station 85 near Butler, Ala., to its interconnect with Gulfstream Natural Gas System in Coden, Ala. The project cost was approximately $35 million.

Also placed into service May 1 was the second phase of the company's 85 North expansion project, increasing the Transco pipeline's capacity by an additional 218,500 dekatherms per day to serve electric power generating facilities in North Carolina. Phase I of the 85 North expansion was placed into service in July 2010, adding capacity to transport an additional 90,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day to markets in Alabama. The total cost of the two phases of the project was approximately $227 million.

"Within the past year, we have announced or placed into service projects that will provide more than 1 million dekatherms of firm transportation capacity from Transco's Station 85 to customers throughout the Southeast," said Randy Barnard, president of Williams' natural gas pipeline business. "It is a great example of how Williams is working closely with its customers to fuel the increasing demand for electric power generation throughout the Southeast with clean-burning natural gas."

The Transco pipeline is a 10,000-mile pipeline system which transports natural gas to markets throughout the northeastern and southeastern United States. The current system capacity is approximately 9 billion cubic feet per day.

About Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ)

Williams Partners L.P. is a leading diversified master limited partnership focused on natural gas transportation; gathering, treating, and processing; storage; natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation; and oil transportation. The partnership owns interests in three major interstate natural gas pipelines that, combined, deliver 12 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States. The partnership's gathering and processing assets include large-scale operations in the U.S. Rocky Mountains and both onshore and offshore along the Gulf of Mexico. Williams (NYSE: WMB) owns approximately 75 percent of Williams Partners, including the general-partner interest. More information is available at www.williamslp.com. Go to http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=1296&to=ea&s=0 or http://www.b2i.us/irpass.asp?BzID=630&to=ea&s=0 to join our email list.

Portions of this document may constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined by federal law. Although the partnership believes any such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that actual outcomes will not be materially different. Any such statements are made in reliance on the "safe harbor" protections provided under the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Additional information about issues that could lead to material changes in performance is contained in the partnership's annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Williams Partners L.P.