Williams Companies 10-Q 2024-09-30

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2024

or

For the transition period from _____________ to _____________

Commission file number 1-4174

THE WILLIAMS COMPANIES, INC.

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: 800-945-5426 (800-WILLIAMS)

NO CHANGE

(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.) Yes ☐ No ☑

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

The Williams Companies, Inc.

Table of Contents

The reports, filings, and other public announcements of The Williams Companies, Inc. (Williams) may contain or incorporate by reference statements that do not directly or exclusively relate to historical facts. Such statements are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. These forward-looking statements relate to anticipated financial performance, management’s plans and objectives for future operations, business prospects, outcomes of regulatory proceedings, market conditions, and other matters. We make these forward-looking statements in reliance on the safe harbor protections provided under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this report that address activities, events, or developments that we expect, believe, or anticipate will exist or may occur in the future, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by various forms of words such as “anticipates,”

“believes,” “seeks,” “could,” “may,” “should,” “continues,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “might,” “goals,” “objectives,” “targets,” “planned,” “potential,” “projects,” “scheduled,” “will,” “assumes,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “in-service date,” or other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management and include, among others, statements regarding:

• Levels of dividends to Williams stockholders;

• Future credit ratings of Williams and its affiliates;

• Amounts and nature of future capital expenditures;

• Expansion and growth of our business and operations;

• Expected in-service dates for capital projects;

• Financial condition and liquidity;

• Business strategy;

• Cash flow from operations or results of operations;

• Seasonality of certain business components;

• Natural gas, natural gas liquids, and crude oil prices, supply, and demand;

• Demand for our services.

Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions, uncertainties, and risks that could cause future events or results to be materially different from those stated or implied in this report. Many of the factors that will determine these results are beyond our ability to control or predict. Specific factors that could cause actual results to differ from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:

• Availability of supplies, market demand, and volatility of prices;

• Development and rate of adoption of alternative energy sources;

• The impact of existing and future laws and regulations, the regulatory environment, environmental matters, and litigation, as well as our ability and the ability of other energy companies with whom we conduct or seek to conduct business, to obtain necessary permits and approvals, and our ability to achieve favorable rate proceeding outcomes;

• Our exposure to the credit risk of our customers and counterparties;

• Our ability to acquire new businesses and assets and successfully integrate those operations and assets into existing businesses as well as successfully expand our facilities and consummate asset sales on acceptable terms;

• Whether we are able to successfully identify, evaluate, and timely execute our capital projects and investment opportunities;

• The strength and financial resources of our competitors and the effects of competition;

• The amount of cash distributions from and capital requirements of our investments and joint ventures in which we participate;

• Whether we will be able to effectively execute our financing plan;

• Increasing scrutiny and changing expectations from stakeholders with respect to our environmental, social, and governance practices;

• The physical and financial risks associated with climate change;

• The impacts of operational and developmental hazards and unforeseen interruptions;

• The risks resulting from outbreaks or other public health crises;

• Risks associated with weather and natural phenomena, including climate conditions and physical damage to our facilities;

• Acts of terrorism, cybersecurity incidents, and related disruptions;

• Our costs and funding obligations for defined benefit pension plans and other postretirement benefit plans;

• Changes in maintenance and construction costs, as well as our ability to obtain sufficient construction-related inputs, including skilled labor;

• Inflation, interest rates, and general economic conditions (including future disruptions and volatility in the global credit markets and the impact of these events on customers and suppliers);

• Risks related to financing, including restrictions stemming from debt agreements, future changes in credit ratings as determined by nationally recognized credit rating agencies, and the availability and cost of capital;

• The ability of the members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other oil exporting nations to agree to and maintain oil price and production controls and the impact on domestic production;

• Changes in the current geopolitical situation, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, including between Israel and Hamas and conflicts involving Iran and its proxy forces;

• Changes in U.S. governmental administration and policies;

• Whether we are able to pay current and expected levels of dividends;

• Additional risks described in our filings with the SEC.

Given the uncertainties and risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, we caution investors not to unduly rely on our forward-looking statements. We disclaim any obligations to, and do not intend to, update the above list or announce publicly the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements to reflect future events or developments.

In addition to causing our actual results to differ, the factors listed above and referred to below may cause our intentions to change from those statements of intention set forth in this report. Such changes in our intentions may also cause our results to differ. We may change our intentions, at any time and without notice, based upon changes in such factors, our assumptions, or otherwise.

Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, we caution that there are important factors, in addition to those listed above, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. For a detailed discussion of those factors, see Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as filed with the SEC on February 21, 2024, as may be supplemented by disclosures in Part II, Item 1A. Risk Factors in subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10‑Q.

DEFINITIONS

The following is a listing of certain abbreviations, acronyms, and other industry terminology that may be used throughout this Form 10-Q.

Measurements:

Barrel or Bbl: One barrel of petroleum products that equals 42 U.S. gallons

Mbbls/d: One thousand barrels per day

Bcf : One billion cubic feet of natural gas

Bcf/d: One billion cubic feet of natural gas per day

MMcf/d: One million cubic feet of natural gas per day

British Thermal Unit (Btu): A unit of energy needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit

MMBtu: One million British thermal units

Dekatherms (Dth): A unit of energy equal to one million British thermal units

Mdth/d: One thousand dekatherms per day

MMdth: One million dekatherms or approximately one trillion British thermal units

MMdth/d: One million dekatherms per day

Government and Regulatory:

EPA: Environmental Protection Agency

Exchange Act, the: Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended

FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

IRS: Internal Revenue Service

SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission

Securities Act, the: Securities Act of 1933, as amended

Other:

Note: References to numerical notes refer to our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements*.*

EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization

Fractionation: The process by which a mixed stream of natural gas liquids is separated into constituent products, such as ethane, propane, and butane

GAAP: U.S. generally accepted accounting principles

LNG: Liquefied natural gas; natural gas which has been liquefied at cryogenic temperatures

MVC: Minimum volume commitments

NGLs: Natural gas liquids; natural gas liquids result from natural gas processing and crude oil refining and are used as petrochemical feedstocks, heating fuels, and gasoline additives, among other applications

NGL margins: NGL revenues less Btu replacement cost, plant fuel, transportation, and fractionation

Appalachia Midstream Investments: Our equity-method investments with an approximate average 66 percent interest in multiple gas gathering systems in the Marcellus Shale region.

Discovery Acquisition: On August 1, 2024, we closed on the acquisition of the remaining 40 percent interest in Discovery Producer Services, LLC (Discovery) which operates a natural gas gathering and transportation system in the Gulf of Mexico and processing and fractionation facilities in Louisiana, along with certain other assets.

DJ Basin Acquisitions: On November 30, 2023, we closed on the acquisition of 100 percent of Cureton Front Range, LLC (Cureton) (Cureton Acquisition) and also closed on the acquisition of the remaining 50 percent interest in Rocky Mountain Midstream Holdings LLC (RMM) (RMM Acquisition), both of which operate midstream assets in the Denver-Julesberg (DJ) Basin.

Gulf Coast Storage Acquisition: On January 3, 2024, we closed on the acquisition of 100 percent of both Hartree Cardinal Gas, LLC and Hartree Natural Gas Storage, LLC (collectively, “Hartree”), which own natural gas storage facilities and pipelines in Louisiana and Mississippi.

MountainWest Acquisition: The February 14, 2023, acquisition of 100 percent of MountainWest Pipelines Holding Company (MountainWest), which includes FERC-regulated interstate natural gas pipeline systems and natural gas storage capacity.

PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The Williams Companies, Inc.

Consolidated Statement of Income

(Unaudited)

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General

We are an energy company committed to being the leader in providing infrastructure that safely delivers natural gas products to reliably fuel the clean energy economy. Our operations are located in the United States.

Our interstate natural gas pipeline strategy is to create value by maximizing the utilization of our pipeline capacity by providing high-quality, low-cost transportation of natural gas to large and growing markets. Our gas pipeline businesses’ interstate transmission and storage activities are subject to regulation by the FERC and as such, our rates and charges for the transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce, and the extension, expansion or abandonment of jurisdictional facilities and accounting, among other things, are subject to regulation. The rates are established primarily through the FERC’s ratemaking process, but we also may negotiate rates with our customers pursuant to the terms of our tariffs and FERC policy. Changes in commodity prices and volumes transported have limited near-term impact on these revenues because the majority of cost of service is recovered through firm capacity reservation charges in transportation rates.

The ongoing strategy of our midstream operations is to safely and reliably operate large-scale midstream infrastructure where our assets can be fully utilized and drive low per-unit costs. We focus on consistently attracting new business by providing highly reliable service to our customers. These services include natural gas gathering, processing, treating, compression and storage, NGL fractionation, transportation and storage, crude oil production handling and transportation, as well as marketing services for NGL, crude oil, and natural gas.

Consistent with the manner in which our chief operating decision maker evaluates performance and allocates resources, our operations are conducted, managed, and presented within the following reportable segments: Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services. All remaining business activities, including our upstream operations and corporate activities, are included in Other. Our reportable segments are comprised of the following business activities:

*•*Transmission & Gulf of Mexico is comprised of our interstate natural gas pipelines, Transco, Northwest Pipeline, and MountainWest, and their related natural gas storage facilities, as well as natural gas gathering and processing and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region, including a 51 percent interest in Gulfstar One, a 50 percent equity-method investment in Gulfstream, and Discovery, a former 60 percent equity-method investment in which we acquired the remaining ownership interest in August 2024 (see Note 3 – Acquisitions and Divestitures). Transmission & Gulf of Mexico also includes natural gas storage facilities and pipelines providing services in north Texas, and also in Louisiana and Mississippi related to the January 2024 Gulf Coast Storage Acquisition (see Note 3 – Acquisitions and Divestitures).

• Northeast G&P is comprised of our midstream gathering, processing, and fractionation businesses in the Marcellus Shale region primarily in Pennsylvania and New York, and the Utica Shale region of eastern Ohio, as well as a 65 percent interest in Northeast JV which operates in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, a 66 percent interest in Cardinal which operates in Ohio, a 69 percent equity-method investment in Laurel Mountain, a 50 percent equity-method investment in Blue Racer, and Appalachia Midstream Investments.

• West is comprised of our gas gathering, processing, and treating operations in the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Wyoming, the Barnett Shale region of north-central Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale region of south Texas, the Haynesville Shale region of east Texas and northwest Louisiana, the Mid-Continent region which includes the Anadarko and Permian basins, and the DJ Basin of Colorado which includes RMM, a former 50 percent equity-method investment in which we acquired the remaining ownership interest in November 2023 (see Note 3 – Acquisitions and Divestitures). This segment also includes our NGL storage facilities, an undivided 50 percent interest in an NGL fractionator near Conway, Kansas, and a 50 percent equity-method investment in OPPL.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis (Continued)

• Gas & NGL Marketing Services is comprised of our NGL and natural gas marketing and trading operations, which includes risk management and transactions related to the storage and transportation of natural gas and NGLs on strategically positioned assets.

Unless indicated otherwise, the following discussion and analysis of results of operations and financial condition and liquidity relates to our current continuing operations and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto of this Form 10-Q and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 dated February 21, 2024.

Dividends

In September 2024, we paid a regular quarterly dividend of $0.4750 per share.

Overview of Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024

Net income (loss) attributable to The Williams Companies, Inc. for the nine months ended September 30, 2024, decreased $302 million compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2023. Further discussion of our results is found in this report in the Results of Operations.

Recent Developments

Transco FERC Rate Case Filing

On August 30, 2024, Transco filed a general rate case with the FERC for an overall increase in rates. In September 2024, with the exception of certain rates that reflected a rate decrease, the FERC accepted and suspended our general rate filing to be effective March 1, 2025, subject to refund and the outcome of hearing procedures established by the FERC. The specific rates that reflected a rate decrease were accepted, without suspension, to be effective October 1, 2024, as requested by Transco, and will not be subject to refund. The impact of the rates reflecting a rate decrease is expected to reduce revenues by approximately $1 million per month beginning October 1, 2024.

Expansion Project Updates

Transmission & Gulf of Mexico

Regional Energy Access

In January 2023, we received approval from the FERC for the project to expand Transco’s existing natural gas transmission system to provide incremental firm transportation capacity from receipt points in northeastern Pennsylvania to multiple delivery points in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. We placed approximately half of the project into service in the fourth quarter of 2023 and placed the remainder of the project into service in August 2024. The project increased capacity by 829 Mdth/d.

On July 30, 2024, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted petitions for review of the FERC orders approving the project, vacating such orders and remanding the matter to the FERC for appropriate action. The court’s decision will not be effective until the court has issued its mandate, which is not expected to occur until November 2024 at the earliest. To enable us to continue operating the project facilities and capacity until the FERC issues an order on remand from the court’s decision, on September 6, 2024, we filed an application with the FERC for a temporary certificate.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis (Continued)

Acquisitions and Divestitures

Discovery Acquisition

As of December 31, 2023, we owned a 60 percent interest in Discovery, which we accounted for as an equity-method investment. On August 1, 2024, we closed on the acquisition of the remaining 40 percent interest in Discovery, along with certain other assets, for $170 million cash, subject to working capital and post-closing adjustments. As a result of acquiring this additional interest, we obtained control and now consolidate Discovery. We recognized a $127 million

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Interest Rate Risk

Our current interest rate risk exposure is related primarily to our debt portfolio. Our debt portfolio is primarily comprised of fixed rate debt, which mitigates the impact of fluctuations in interest rates. Any borrowings under our credit facility and any issuances under our commercial paper program could be at a variable interest rate and could expose us to the risk of increasing interest rates. The maturity of our long-term debt portfolio is partially influenced by the expected lives of our operating assets. We may utilize interest rate derivative instruments to hedge interest rate risk associated with future debt issuances (see Note 6 – Debt and Banking Arrangements).

Commodity Price Risk

We are exposed to commodity price risk through our natural gas and NGL marketing activities, including contracts to purchase, sell, transport, and store product. We routinely manage this risk with a variety of exchange-traded and OTC energy contracts such as forward contracts, futures contracts, and basis swaps, as well as physical transactions. Although many of the contracts used to manage commodity exposure are derivative instruments, these economic hedges are not designated or do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment.

We are also exposed to commodity prices through our upstream business and certain gathering and processing contracts. We use derivative instruments to lock in forward sales prices on a portion of our expected future production and to lock in NGL margin on a portion of our commodity-exposed gathering and processing volumes. These economic hedges are not designated for hedge accounting treatment.

The maturities of our commodity derivative contracts at September 30, 2024, were as follows:

(1)See Note 7 – Fair Value Measurements and Guarantees for discussion of valuation techniques by level within the fair value hierarchy. See Note 8 – Commodity Derivatives for the amount of change in fair value recognized in our Consolidated Statement of Income.

(2)Commodity derivative assets and liabilities exclude $76 million of net cash collateral in Level 1.

Value at Risk (VaR)

VaR is the maximum predicted loss in portfolio value over a specified time period that is not expected to be exceeded within a given degree of probability. Our VaR may not be comparable to that of other companies due to differences in the factors used to calculate VaR. Our VaR is determined using parametric models with 95 percent confidence intervals and one-day holding periods, which means that 95 percent of the time, the risk of loss in a day from a portfolio of positions is expected to be less than or equal to the amount of VaR calculated. Our open exposure is managed in accordance with established policies that limit market risk and require daily reporting of predicted financial loss to management. Because we generally manage physical gas assets and economically protect our positions by hedging in the futures markets, our open exposure is generally mitigated. We employ daily risk testing, using both VaR and stress testing, to evaluate the risk of our positions.

We actively monitor open commodity marketing positions and the resulting VaR and maintain a relatively small risk exposure as total buy volume is close to sell volume, with minimal open natural gas price risk.

The VaR associated with our integrated natural gas trading operations was $4 million at September 30, 2024 and $9 million at December 31, 2023. We had the following VaRs for the period shown:

Our non-trading portfolio primarily consists of commodity derivatives that hedge our upstream business and certain gathering and processing contracts. The VaR associated with these commodity derivatives was $5 million at September 30, 2024 and $3 million at December 31, 2023. We had the following VaRs for the period shown:

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a - 15(e) and 15d - 15(e) of the Exchange Act) (Disclosure Controls) or our internal control over financial reporting (Internal Controls) will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within the company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of simple errors or mistakes. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people, or by management override of the control. The design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected. We monitor our Disclosure Controls and Internal Controls and make modifications as necessary; our intent in this regard is that the Disclosure Controls and Internal Controls will be modified as systems change and conditions warrant.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

An evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our Disclosure Controls was performed as of the end of the period covered by this report. This evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that these Disclosure Controls are effective at a reasonable assurance level.

As disclosed in Note 3 – Acquisitions and Divestitures, we acquired Hartree as part of the Gulf Coast Storage Acquisition on January 3, 2024. Hartree’s total revenues constituted approximately 2 percent of total revenues as shown in our consolidated financial statements for the nine months ended September 30, 2024. Hartree’s total assets constituted approximately 4 percent of total assets as shown in our consolidated financial statements as of September 30, 2024. We also acquired Cureton on November 30, 2023, and its total revenues constituted approximately 3 percent of total revenues as shown in our consolidated financial statements for the nine months ended September 30, 2024. Cureton’s total assets constituted approximately 1 percent of total assets as shown in our consolidated financial statements as of September 30, 2024. We excluded Hartree’s and Cureton’s disclosure controls and procedures that are subsumed by their internal control over financial reporting from the scope of management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures. This exclusion is in accordance with the guidance issued by the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission that an assessment of recent business combinations may be omitted from management’s assessment of internal control over financial reporting for one year following the acquisition.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes during the third quarter of 2024 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our Internal Control over Financial Reporting.

PART II. OTHER INFORMATION

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

Environmental

Certain reportable legal proceedings involving governmental authorities under federal, state, and local laws regulating the discharge of materials into the environment are described below. While it is not possible for us to predict the final outcome of the proceedings that are still pending, we do not anticipate a material effect on our consolidated financial position if we receive an unfavorable outcome in any one or more of such proceedings. Our threshold for disclosing material environmental legal proceedings involving a governmental authority where potential monetary sanctions are involved is $1 million.

Other environmental matters called for by this Item are described under the caption “Environmental Matters” in Note 9 – Contingencies included under Part II, Item 8 Financial Statements of this report, which information is incorporated by reference into this Item.

Other litigation

The additional information called for by this Item is provided in Note 9 – Contingencies included under Part II, Item 8 Financial Statements of this report, which information is incorporated by reference into this Item.

Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as filed with the SEC on February 21, 2024, includes risk factors that could materially affect our business, financial condition, or future results. Those Risk Factors have not materially changed.

Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities, Use of Proceeds, and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

(1)In September 2021, our Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program with a maximum dollar limit of $1.5 billion. Repurchases may be made from time to time in the open market, by block purchases, in privately negotiated transactions, or in such other manner as determined by our management. Our management will also determine the timing and amount of any repurchases based on market conditions and other factors. The share repurchase program does not obligate us to acquire any particular amount of common stock, and it may be suspended or discontinued at any time. This share repurchase program does not have an expiration date.

During the three months ended September 30, 2024, no director or officer of the Company adopted or terminated a “Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement” or “non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement,” as each term is defined in Item 408(a) of Regulation S-K.

• Filed herewith.

** Furnished herewith.

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

November 6, 2024