Williams Companies has signed an agreement to buy Momentum Midstream from private equity backer EnCap Flatrock for up to $5.5 billion, in what the seller called one of the most significant private midstream transactions in the United States. The deal centers on M6 Midstream and its natural gas gathering and transmission network in the Haynesville shale of east Texas and Louisiana.
The assets add more than 4,000 miles of pipeline and over one million dedicated acres feeding Gulf Coast hubs including Bethel, Carthage and Silsbee in Texas and Gillis in Louisiana. Momentum's system carries roughly 6 billion cubic feet a day of capacity and serves more than 140 customers, among them 34 industrial users, 26 power plants and 10 LNG facilities.
The purchase price breaks down into about $3.5 billion in cash and assumed debt plus roughly $2 billion in Williams equity. Williams entered the second quarter with $3.12 billion in current assets against $6.55 billion in current liabilities, and it said the deal lifts its 2026 leverage ratio midpoint to about 3.75 times.
Williams plans two expansion projects to build on the new footprint. The $1.5 billion Delta Access expansion along the Transco corridor will offer initial capacity of 2.25 billion cubic feet a day from early 2029, while the Shelby Trough Connector will add 750 million cubic feet a day of initial capacity by mid 2028.
The transaction deepens Williams' exposure to rising natural gas demand in a region where Gulf Coast LNG offtake is projected to grow by roughly 20 billion cubic feet a day over the next decade. It also marks a fresh wave of consolidation in US midstream as pipeline owners position for power and export growth. Williams now guides to 2026 adjusted earnings of $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion.