Williams Executes Agreements with Coterra and Dominion Energy for Delivery of Full-Value Chain Certified Low Emission Next Gen Gas

December 08, 2022 07:30 AM Eastern Standard Time TULSA, Okla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Williams (NYSE: WMB) today announced the execution of agreements with Coterra Energy and Dominion Energy Virginia establishing the industry's first next generation natural gas certification process across all segments of the value chain from production through gathering and transmission with deliveries through 2023. Williams is leveraging block-chain secured technology via Context Labs' Decarbonization as a Service™ (DaaS™) platform to track and measure end-to-end emissions through the aggregation and reconciliation of multiple sources of data to provide a path-specific methane intensity certification that meets or exceeds industry leading measurement protocols. KPMG LLP will perform third-party verification of the methane intensity certification and low-emission attributes of next gen natural gas.

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'Williams is proud to launch the industry's first comprehensive next gen natural gas platform to bring greater trust, transparency and transactability to the certified gas market,' said Chad Zamarin, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategic Development for Williams. 'As we look to a low-carbon energy future, Williams is committed to leading our industry with credible solutions to benefit our customers and their sustainability goals.'

'Coterra is pleased to partner with Williams in deploying this exciting new technology which has the potential to change how we measure and report emissions data,' said Blake Sirgo, Senior Vice President of Operations for Coterra Energy. 'We remain focused on being an environmental leader and we are optimistic that this reference implementation will further aid Coterra in our ongoing efforts to reduce our emissions by developing, adopting and implementing innovative technologies and practices.'

'Our partnership with Williams and Coterra is another important step in reducing emissions across the entire natural gas value chain,' said Cedric Green, Senior Vice President of Power Generation for Dominion Energy Virginia. 'Certified, low-emissions natural gas is a vital part of achieving our goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We look forward to continuing this and other innovative partnerships to deliver affordable, reliable and clean energy to the customers we serve.'

Through its Sequent Energy Management business, Williams is building a marketing platform to sell trusted low-carbon and net-zero next gen natural gas to utilities, LNG export facilities and other clean energy users with the goal of helping customers reduce emissions and meet their climate commitments. The delivery of next gen natural gas highlights the low-carbon benefits of Coterra's production in northeast Pennsylvania and Williams' gathering and transmission operations to provide a differentiated low-emission gas product for Dominion Energy Virginia. Over the 1-year duration of the project, this pathway is estimated to avoid 120,000 metric tons of CO2e emissions when compared to the national average methane emissions for the production, gathering and transmission segments.

Context Labs is leveraging its DaaS™ platform to integrate data from multiple sources across Coterra's and Williams' operations, including ground-based optical gas imaging cameras, flyovers, satellite monitoring and internal operational systems. This data is aggregated and reconciled using a block-chain secured carbon accounting ledger to provide an end-to-end path-specific methane intensity certification from production through gathering and transmission. The environmental attributes associated with the delivery of next gen natural gas will be registered, tracked and retired through Context Lab's CLEAR Path™ platform. 'We are thrilled to be working with Williams and its supply chain ecosystem partners to produce the energy industry's premier end-to-end next generation natural gas certification transactions,' said Dan Harple, Founder and CEO of Context Labs.

The program represents the first full value chain methane emissions certification program that will meet or exceed the Quantification, Measurement, Reporting and Verification (QMRV) measurement standards prescribed by the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership, a multi-stakeholder partnership developed by the United Nations, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. It will also meet the upcoming Veritas protocol by research firm GTI Energy which brings together scientists, academics, environmental organizations, certification organizations and industry participants to demonstrate emissions reductions in a consistent, credible and transparent way.

About Williams

As the world demands reliable, low-cost, low-carbon energy, Williams (NYSE: WMB) will be there with the best transport, storage and delivery solutions to reliably fuel the clean energy economy. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Williams is an industry-leading, investment grade C-Corp with operations across the natural gas value chain including gathering, processing, interstate transportation, storage, wholesale marketing and trading of natural gas and natural gas liquids. With major positions in top U.S. supply basins, Williams connects the best supplies with the growing demand for clean energy. Williams owns and operates more than 30,000 miles of pipelines system wide – including Transco, the nation's largest volume and fastest growing pipeline – and handles approximately 30 percent of the natural gas in the United States that is used every day for clean-power generation, heating and industrial use. Learn how the company is leveraging its nationwide footprint to incorporate clean hydrogen, next generation gas and other innovations at www.williams.com.

About Coterra

Coterra Energy is a premier, diversified energy company well positioned to deliver superior and sustainable returns. We are built to weather industry cycles with tremendous flexibility between the best oil assets and the best natural gas assets in the country. We embrace innovation, technology, and data, as we work to create value for our investors, our team members, and the communities where we operate. Our approach to ESG and sustainable development is centered on a dedicated, consistent effort toward reducing our footprint. At the same time, we are focused on providing a transparent view into our business with credible assessments that keep us on the path to success. For more information, go to www.coterra.com.

About Dominion Energy

About 7 million customers in 15 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. The company is committed to safely providing reliable, affordable and sustainable energy and to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more.

About Context Labs

Context Labs provides solutions for customers who demand trusted provenance in their data, tracked veracity through the data's supply chain of use, and a requirement for trusted insights. It is dedicated to sourcing, organizing, and contextualizing the world's ESG information, enabling data to become trusted, shared, and utilized as Asset Grade Data to provide insights and solutions through Asset Grade Analytics that informs markets. Context Labs' mission is to provide the world's trusted data fabric platform, delivering Asset Grade Data, using its Immutably™ Data Fabric platform, deploying machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, and cryptographic blockchain technologies for context-driven insights. The company was formed out of MIT research and is comprised of a leadership team that has been instrumental in the at-scale growth of the Internet, in prior companies. For more information, go to www.contextlabs.com.

About KPMG LLP

KPMG LLP is the U.S. firm of the KPMG global organization of independent professional services firms providing audit, tax and advisory services, and a minority investor in Context Labs. The KPMG global organization operates in 144 countries and territories and has more than 236,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.

KPMG is widely recognized for being a great place to work and build a career. Our people share a sense of purpose in the work we do, and a strong commitment to community service, inclusion and diversity and eradicating childhood illiteracy. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us.