Coming Soon: WPX Energy

Just in case you missed the big news coming from our corporate headquarters, our business here in the Barnett is about to start bearing a new brand – the WPX Energy brand.

That’s because Williams is splitting… into two companies.

On one hand, Williams will continue its 100-year heritage as a premier owner and operator of natural gas pipelines and infrastructure.

On the other hand, there’s the exploration and production business, which has a history dating back nearly three decades, starting in New Mexico’s San Juan Basin and broadening to places like the Barnett Shale. That’s the business I support. It’ll now be called WPX.

The separation of integrated entities is a trend in the oil and gas sector these days. Marathon did it. Questar did it. Tesoro did it. El Paso was working on it. And ConocoPhillips is doing it, just to name a few.

The moves, in part, give businesses that were once in a larger corporate format a broader ability to, well, basically grow.

It also helps investors better value what they hold in their shares of stock. It also gives management teams a tighter overall focus when it comes to doing what they do best.

In our specific case at Williams, it takes a lot of dollars and dough to build pipelines and drill oil and gas wells. Now, both companies (Williams and WPX) will each have their own access to capital.

As our CEO said a while back, “Williams has generated significant value by operating as an integrated natural gas company.

“As we look to the future, though, we are convinced that the capital efficiency created by separating into two distinct investment opportunities will allow shareholders to realize greater value.”

So, you’ll still see me around town, but my hard hat will have a new logo. And if you’re interested in all the nuts and bolts and legal details pertaining to our spinoff, you can learn more right here.

Officially, our official start as WPX is expected to happen real soon. As we assimilate the spinoff, we’ll be reworking this website, too, and reintroducing it down the road as “WPXInTheBarnett.”

From all of us at our Fort Worth office, we’re wishing you and all of yours a Happy New Year as we prepare to start our own new era as WPX Energy.