Williams Wants More of Atlantic Sunrise Natgas Pipe in Service

Williams Cos Inc sought permission from U.S. energy regulators to put in service more of its nearly $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, according to a filing made available on Monday:

* Williams' Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co (Transco) unit filed with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Friday for permission to put in service about 0.15 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of capacity of the 1.7 bcfd project.

* The company has had some of the project in service since September, enabling Transco to transport about 0.4 bcfd of gas from Pennsylvania to Alabama.

* Williams asked FERC for permission to increase that capacity by another 0.15 bcfd by June 1.

* Williams has said it expects to complete in mid-2018 the entire pipeline, which includes about 198 miles (319 km) of new pipe located mostly in Pennsylvania and modifications to existing infrastructure.

* Atlantic Sunrise is designed to transport 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 in New York