Williams to Put More of Atlantic Sunrise Natgas Pipe in Service

U.S. federal energy regulators on Tuesday approved Williams Cos Inc's request to put in service parts of its nearly $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to South Carolina:

* The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said in a filing the new facilities will enable bi-directional flow on Williams' existing Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co (Transco) pipe.

* The facilities will enable an additional 0.15 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of bi-directional gas flow through parts of Transco between Maryland to North Carolina.

* Williams said it has already had some of the Atlantic Sunrise project in service since September, enabling Transco to transport about 0.4 bcfd of gas from Pennsylvania to Alabama.

* Williams has said it expects to complete Atlantic Sunrise in mid-2018. The project includes about 198 miles (319 km) of new pipe located mostly in Pennsylvania and modifications to existing infrastructure.

* Atlantic Sunrise is designed to transport up to 1.7 bcfd of gas from the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania to markets in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

* One billion cubic feet is enough gas for about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.

* Cabot Oil & Gas Corp has secured about 1 bcfd of transport capacity on Atlantic Sunrise.

Reporting by Scott DiSavino