(NYSE: WPZ) today announced another significant milestone in building large-scale infrastructure in the Marcellus Shale with the start up of its Springville natural gas gathering pipeline.

The Springville pipeline connects Williams Partners' growing gathering system in northeast Pennsylvania with its Transco , initially moving 300 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of natural gas to the valuable Northeast markets. The project is a key component of the partnership's strategy to provide Marcellus producers with reliable and connect them to key markets.

"The Springville system is part of our strategy to offer natural gas producers in this part of the Marcellus Shale independent, market-based solutions to gather production and deliver it to the growing Northeast markets," said , senior vice president of Midstream for Williams Partners. "We expect to double the initial takeaway capacity on Springville by the end of this year by adding compression," Miller said.

"This project is a prime example of our intense focus on expanding our services to meet our customers' demand for reliable infrastructure services," Miller added.

The 33.5-mile, 24-inch Springville pipeline transports natural gas from existing gathering system in Susquehanna County, Pa., to its Transco interstate gas transmission system in Luzerne County, Pa.

Williams Partners' Growing Scale in Marcellus Shale

Since mid-2009 Williams Partners has acquired two major gathering systems in Pennsylvania and is in the process of acquiring a third. It has been quickly working to expand its operations in all areas.

, which includes the Springville pipeline, now covers three counties - Susquehanna, Wyoming and Luzerne - and is connected to three interstate market outlets - Tennessee Gas Pipeline, Millennium Pipeline and Williams Partners' Transco pipeline. At the close of 2011, the company reached a new milestone moving more than 600 MMcf/d of natural gas in this region of the Marcellus Shale.

to acquire the Laser Northeast Gathering System from Delphi Midstream Partners, LLC, will further add to its scale in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Laser Gathering System is currently comprised of 33 miles of 16-inch natural gas pipeline and associated gathering facilities in Susquehanna County, Pa., as well as 10 miles of gathering pipeline in southern New York. The acquisition, which was announced on Dec. 22, 2010, is expected to close in the first quarter.

Work also continues on the Laurel Mountain Midstream joint venture in southwestern Pennsylvania. The system and the partnership has been working to expand and upgrade the system. It has added 110 miles of additional gathering pipeline, and it expects another 50 miles to be added by the end of the first quarter.

About Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ)

Williams Partners L.P. is a leading diversified master limited partnership focused on natural gas transportation; gathering, treating, and processing; storage; natural gas liquid (NGL) fractionation; and oil transportation. The partnership owns interests in three major interstate natural gas pipelines that, combined, deliver 14 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States. The partnership's gathering and processing assets include large-scale operations in the U.S. Rocky Mountains and both onshore and offshore along the Gulf of Mexico. Williams (NYSE: WMB) owns approximately 75 percent of Williams Partners, including the general-partner interest. More information is available at to join our email list.

Portions of this document may constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined by federal law. Although the partnership believes any such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there is no assurance that actual outcomes will not be materially different. Any such statements are made in reliance on the "safe harbor" protections provided under the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Additional information about issues that could lead to material changes in performance is contained in the partnership's annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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