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Williams Partners L.P. is principally engaged in the business of gathering, transporting, processing and treating natural gas and fractionating and storing natural gas liquids (NGLs). The partnership manages its business and analyzes its results of operations on a segment basis. Williams Partners’ operations are divided into three business segments:
- Gathering and Processing — West. The West segment includes the Four Corners and Wamsutter gathering systems. One of the largest integrated natural gas gathering and processing systems in the country, Four Corners gathers and processes or treats approximately 37 percent of the natural gas produced in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado. It connects with the five pipeline systems that transport natural gas to end markets from the basin. The Wamsutter system gathers approximately 69 percent of the natural gas produced in the Washakie Basin in Wyoming and connects to the Colorado Interstate Gas, Wyoming Interstate Gas and Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline systems that transport natural gas to end markets from the basin.
- Gathering and Processing — Gulf. The Gulf segment includes the partnership’s 60 percent ownership interest in Discovery Producer Services and the Carbonate Trend gathering pipeline off the coast of Alabama. Discovery owns an integrated natural gas gathering and transportation pipeline system extending from offshore in the Gulf of Mexico to a natural gas processing facility and an NGL fractionator in Louisiana. These assets generate revenues by providing natural gas gathering, transporting and processing services and integrated NGL fractionating services to customers under a range of contractual arrangements. Although Discovery includes fractionation operations, which would normally fall within the NGL Services segment, it is primarily engaged in gathering and processing and is managed as such.
- NGL Services. The NGL Services segment includes three integrated NGL storage facilities and a 50 percent undivided interest in a fractionator near Conway, Kansas. These assets generate revenues by providing stand-alone NGL fractionation and storage services using various fee-based contractual arrangements where the partnership receives a fee or fees based on actual or contracted volumetric measures.
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