Williams Companies Inc. (WMB)

Williams reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $827 million, up 51 percent from a year earlier, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.921 billion 2.

Adjusted EBITDA is a profit measure before interest, taxes and depreciation that the company adjusts for one-off items 2.

Chief executive Chad Zamarin credited transmission and Gulf Coast expansions, higher natural gas storage revenues and strong gathering performance 2.

On 3 August 2026 Williams agreed to acquire Momentum Midstream, a Haynesville Shale gas gathering and pipeline business, for up to $5.5 billion, including about $2 billion of its own stock 19.

BIC Magazine reported on 4 September 2026 that Williams had closed the acquisition 10.

Williams now expects 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion 2.

The open question is whether Socrates, its first power project for data centers, finishes its second phase in the fourth quarter, as the company expects 1.

Williams dates itself to 1908, when two Williams brothers began a construction company in Fort Smith, Arkansas 4. It was incorporated in Nevada in 1949 and moved to Delaware in 1987 4.

In 2002 came the hardest stretch: the Enron bankruptcy hit the energy sector, and Williams also had to honor payment duties tied to its former telecommunications arm, Williams Communications Group 4. It lost its investment grade credit ratings in July 2002 and faced a cash shortage 4.

To raise cash it sold assets, including the Kern River gas pipeline, for $450 million in cash and the assumption of $510 million in debt 4. In February 2003 it said it would become a smaller integrated natural gas company 4.

At the end of 2011 Williams spun off its exploration and production arm, WPX Energy, to focus on pipelines and gathering 5. In the fourth quarter of 2012 it bought a stake of about 25 percent in Access Midstream Partners, which gathers gas for Chesapeake Energy and others 5.

On 28 September 2015 Williams announced a merger agreement with Energy Transfer 6. On 29 June 2016 Energy Transfer gave written notice ending it, citing the alleged failure of certain conditions 6. In September 2016 Williams completed the sale of its Canadian operations for $1.020 billion 6.

On 10 August 2018 Williams completed a merger with its listed partnership, Williams Partners, acquiring about 256 million publicly held units for 382 million Williams shares 7.

Acquisitions then reshaped the pipeline and gathering base 3. Williams closed on MountainWest Pipelines on 14 February 2023 and on DJ Basin midstream assets on 30 November 2023 3. It added Hartree's Gulf Coast gas storage on 3 January 2024 and the rest of Discovery on 1 August 2024 3.

Revenue was $10.9 billion in 2023, $10.5 billion in 2024 and $11.95 billion in 2025, and net income attributable to Williams rose to $2.6 billion in 2025 3. Service revenues rose on expansion projects and higher Transco and Gulf Coast storage rates 3.

Gas pipelines and storage

Williams owns and operates natural gas pipelines, which move gas from where it is produced to utilities, power plants and factories 3. It says it operates over 32,000 miles of pipelines in 24 states and the Gulf of America, with 423 Bcf of storage, or billion cubic feet 3.

Its Transco pipeline runs about 9,600 miles from Texas and the Gulf of America to the New York City area 3. Northwest Pipeline runs about 3,900 miles from the San Juan basin to the Canadian border near Sumas, Washington 3.

Both are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which sets their rates 3. Most of the business is fully contracted under long-term firm reservation contracts, so customers pay for reserved space 3. Transco settled its rate case in 2025, with refunds paid in April 2026 1.

Gathering and processing

Gathering systems collect raw gas at the well 3. Treating and processing plants then clean it and pull out natural gas liquids such as ethane and propane 3. About 93 percent of 2025 liquids production was under fee-based contracts, where Williams is paid a cash fee 3.

The work spans the Marcellus and Utica shale in the Northeast, the Haynesville and Eagle Ford shale in the West, and the deepwater Gulf of America, where Williams also owns five deepwater crude oil pipelines 3.

Power for data centers, marketing and upstream

Its power innovation projects in Ohio and Utah supply onsite gas and electricity to data centers and industrial users 3. They total 1.9 gigawatts, backed by agreements of up to 12.5 years 3. Socrates South entered service in late July 2026 1.

The marketing arm sells natural gas and liquids to energy and petrochemical users 3. Upstream, Williams operates oil and gas wells in Wyoming's Wamsutter basin and owns more than 90 percent after the Crowheart purchase 3. In January 2026 it sold other upstream interests for $398 million 1.

People and rivals

Chad Zamarin became president and chief executive, and Alan Armstrong, who ran the company as chief executive for 14 years, became executive Board Chair 11. Williams had 5,987 full-time employees on 1 February 2026 3.

Williams says it competes with major and independent natural gas midstream providers, private equity firms and integrated oil and gas companies 3.

The umbrella, in words

Transco and Northwest Pipeline are wholly owned subsidiaries 3. Williams owns 100 percent of MountainWest, an interstate gas pipeline company with about 2,200 miles of pipe 3.

Williams owns a 50 percent equity-method stake in the Gulfstream pipeline to Florida and 65 percent of Ohio Valley Midstream, the Northeast joint venture 3. In October 2025 it acquired a 10 percent stake in Louisiana LNG and 80 percent of Driftwood Pipeline 3.

In July 2026 Williams sold a 49 percent noncontrolling interest in five power projects to an investor for $5.34 billion of committed capital, and it keeps control 1. The release names the investor as Blackstone 2.

A filing of 3 September 2026 registered the resale of up to 26,874,496 Williams shares by selling securityholders 8.

Williams expects 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion and growth capital spending of $7.3 billion to $7.9 billion 2. The proxy statement sets a longer goal of 10 percent or more annual growth in adjusted EBITDA through 2030 11.

For power, the company expects Socrates North in the fourth quarter of 2026, Apollo (490 MW) in late 2027 and Neo (682 MW) in late 2028, if permits arrive on time 1.

On gas pipelines, Transco plans Southeast Supply Enhancement as early as the third quarter of 2027, adding 1,597 Mdth/d, and Northeast Supply Enhancement as early as the fourth quarter of 2027, adding 400 Mdth/d 1. Line 200 to the Louisiana LNG site is planned for as early as the second quarter of 2028 1.

Williams also plans the Shelby Trough Connector in the second quarter of 2028 and, subject to the Momentum deal, Delta Access in the first quarter of 2029 1. It signed an agreement in June 2026 to sell Permian gathering assets and expects a gain on closing in the third quarter 1.