Williams Partners completes Olefins sale

TULSA — Williams Partners LP has completed the sale of all of its membership interest in Williams Olefins LLC to NOVA Chemicals for about $2.1 billion in cash.

Williams Olefins owns more than 88 percent of the Geismar, Louisianna, olefins plant and associated complex. As part of the deal, Williams Partners subsidiaries have entered into long-term supply and transportation agreements with NOVA Chemicals to provide feedstock to the Geismar olefins plant through Williams Partners’ ethane pipeline system in the U.S. Gulf Coast.

“Completing this successful transaction represents another important step in our natural gas-focused business strategy to deliver predictable long-term growth as we reduce our commodity-margin exposure,” Williams CEO Alan Armstrong said. “Around 97 percent of our gross margins will now come from predictable feebased sources, including the previously announced new long-term supply and transportation agreements with NOVA. We look forward to supporting NOVA’s strategy in the Gulf Coast with our highly reliable ethane pipeline system as part of this win-win transaction and agreement for both companies.”

Williams Partners executives have said they plan to use the cash proceeds from sale to pay off the partnership’s $850 million term loan and to fund a portion of the capital and investment expenditures that are a part of the partnership’s extensive growth portfolio.