Williams Joins United Nations’ Methane Performance Initiative, Strengthening Transparency in Emissions Reporting and Decarbonization of Natural Gas Value Chain

TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Williams (NYSE: WMB) today announced it has joined the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0), the global initiative designed to improve the energy industry’s methane emissions reporting and to encourage progress in reducing those emissions. Joining OGMP 2.0 supports Williams’ next generation natural gas strategy to drive transparency and decarbonization of the natural gas value chain through technology investments, providing path-specific methane intensity certifications to utilities, LNG export facilities and other clean energy users.

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OGMP 2.0 is UNEP’s flagship oil and gas reporting and mitigation program. It is the only comprehensive, measurement-based international reporting framework for the sector. In the past two years, nearly 100 companies with operations in more than 60 countries have joined the initiative. They represent more than 35 per cent of global oil and gas production. OGMP 2.0 member companies strive to report methane emissions in accordance with what are widely recognized as the highest established standards while setting industry-leading methane reduction targets.

“Williams is committed to achieving the most stringent methane performance standards as prescribed by OGMP 2.0, thus setting the pace for the midstream sector in the United States,” said Alan Armstrong, Williams President and CEO. “We handle one third of U.S. natural gas, giving us unique visibility to how gas molecules are produced, processed, transported and used. By leveraging new technology across our nationwide infrastructure footprint, we are confident we can enhance the trust and transparency needed to grow a differentiated low-emissions gas market and provide clean, reliable gas supplies to domestic and international buyers focused on a low-carbon future.”

“We are glad to welcome Williams as part of our global initiative, which incentivizes member companies to reduce methane emissions and allocate capital efficiently,” said Giulia Ferrini, OGMP 2.0 Project Manager, UNEP. “We look forward to Williams’ contribution as OGMP 2.0 is more than a rigorous reporting framework: it is a unique platform for collective action and peer learning among our members, who jointly develop new industry norms on methane management.”

Williams’ NextGen Gas program provides verified emissions profiles and captures the progress from greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions across the natural gas value chain – from customers and its own operations – using monitoring and measurement technologies including satellites, flyovers and multiple sensing devices, as well as real-time internal operational data that is designed to meet the OGMP 2.0 protocols. As part of this program, Williams recently invested in Orbital Sidekick, a satellite-based emissions monitoring company and LongPath Technologies, a provider of laser-based continuous emissions monitoring and quantification technology. Data from these technologies will be aggregated with other forms of measurement data and synthesized by Context Labs’ Decarbonization as a Service (DasS) platform to provide verified emissions profiles and capture the progress from reductions across the natural gas value chain for Williams and its customers.

Today’s announced membership in OGMP 2.0 complements other methane performance initiatives in which Williams is engaged, including ONE Future, a group of natural gas companies working to voluntarily reduce methane emissions to less than 1% across the natural gas value chain. Williams also belongs to the Energy Emissions Modelling and Data Lab (EEMDL), a collaborative initiative involving the University of Texas at Austin, Colorado State University and the Colorado School of Mines to provide science-based greenhouse gas emissions assessments of global oil and gas supply chains.

In 2022, Williams was once again recognized across several key rankings – including CDP Climate Change Questionnaire, S&P Global ESG Score, Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and MSCI – for the company’s commitment to transparency and governance around climate change and other ESG topics. Williams was named for the third consecutive year to the DJSI North America index and for the second consecutive year to the DJSI World index.

About Williams

As the world demands reliable, low-cost, low-carbon energy, Williams (NYSE: WMB) will be there with the best transport, storage and delivery solutions to reliably fuel the clean energy economy. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Williams is an industry-leading, investment grade C-Corp with operations across the natural gas value chain including gathering, processing, interstate transportation, storage, wholesale marketing and trading of natural gas and natural gas liquids. With major positions in top U.S. supply basins, Williams connects the best supplies with the growing demand for clean energy. Williams owns and operates more than 32,000 miles of pipelines system wide – including Transco, the nation’s largest volume and fastest growing pipeline – and handles approximately one third of the natural gas in the United States that is used every day for clean-power generation, heating and industrial use. Learn how the company is leveraging its nationwide footprint to incorporate clean hydrogen, NextGen Gas and other innovations at www.williams.com.

About OGMP 2.0

The Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 (OGMP 2.0) is a multi-stakeholder initiative, fostering better emissions data for methane mitigation in the oil and gas sector. OGMP, initially launched in 2014 by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, was ratcheted up in scope and ambition in November 2020 to become OGMP 2.0. Itis the only comprehensive, measurement-based reporting framework for the oil and gas industry that improves the accuracy and transparency of methane emissions reporting. Already over 90 companies with assets on five continents representing over 35% of the world’s oil and gas production, as well as over 20% of global natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines, over 10% of global storage capacity and over 70% of global LNG flows have joined the partnership. For more, visit www.ogmpartnership.com.

Portions of this document may constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined by federal law. Although the company 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 company’s annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.