The Williams Companies (WMB) said that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) permitted its majority-owned subsidiary, Northwest Pipeline GP, to build and operate a 15.5-mile pipeline to transport natural gas from the Piceance Basin in Colorado to the Opal Hub in Wyoming. 
 
Known as the Sundance Trail Expansion, the 30-inch diameter loop will provide 150,000 dekatherms of firm transportation capacity per day from the Greasewood and Meeker/White River Hubs in Rio Blanco County, Colorado to the Opal Hub area in Lincoln County, Wyoming . Additionally, the project will replace and enhance Northwest’s compression facilities at the Vernal Compressor Station in Uintah County, Utah. It is estimated that the Sundance Trail Expansion will cost roughly $65 million and is expected to be in service by November 2010.
 
Post completion, the project will offer the producers transportation capacity to move gas from one of the fastest-growing gas production fields in the Rockies to markets in the western U.S. At the Opal Hub (a key Rocky Mountain processing station), producers can access six interstate pipelines, including Northwest, providing enough supply options for transporting natural gas.
 
The Williams Companies, Inc. is an energy firm that primarily finds, produces, gathers, processes, and transports natural gas. The company divides its business into four segments: Exploration & Production (E&P), Midstream Gas & Liquids, Gas Pipeline, and Gas Marketing Services.
 
Northwest Pipeline GP is 35% owned by Williams Pipeline Partners L.P. (WMZ), Williams Companies’ master limited partnership that owns and operates natural gas transportation and storage assets.
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