Williams Brothers Construction history

Williams Brothers Builders, Inc. was founded in 1959 by Robert Williams.

Williams merged with MAPCO, whose assets happened to include a pipeline that Williams built in 1960, during the heyday of its construction business.

At the same time, Williams continued to look abroad for work, and in 1962 entered Western Africa with a contract to build the 170-mile TransNiger Pipeline.

The Bolivian project was completed in 1965, in time for the company to begin a new project, the 175-mile Fahud-Muscat crude oil line, which brought the company into Oman for the first time.

1966: The Great Lakes Pipe Line company is acquired in a move to transition to the natural gas market.

In 1967, Williams began another high-profile, logistically difficult project, the construction of a crude-oil pipeline cross the Andes mountains in Colombia.

In 1970, Williams began work on a new Andes mountain project, this time with the construction of the Trans-Ecuadorian Pipeline.

The company changed its name to "The Williams Companies" in 1971 to reflect this new diversity.

The company had also stepped up its interest in natural gas, and in 1974 set up its own gas exploration and production wing.

Williams’ expansion led it to lose interest in its historic core pipeline construction business, and in 1975 it sold off that operation in a management buyout, which formed a new company, registered in Panama, called Willbros Group.

The business continued to grow and a new office and warehouse facility was built at our current location in 1976.

In 1979, however, Willbros, in a move to retire its debt, sold 60 percent of its shares to Heerema Holding Construction Inc.

Completed in 1983, the pipeline stretched over 1,200 miles and included 23 pump stations.

The purchase of Northwest Energy Company was the beginning of the company’s nationwide system of interstate natural gas pipelines.1985.

1986: Hereema Holding acquires full control of Willbros.

The WilTel venture began, playing a foundational role in today’s digital world by using retired-from-service pipelines as conduit for fragile fiber-optic cable.1995.

1996: Willbros goes public on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company found stronger markets in the United States, where it constructed a 45-mile gas pipeline system connecting Texas and Mexico in 1998.

In 1999, Robert Williams retired and Barton Williams, Robert’s son, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer.

Curran maintained the company’s growth through acquisition, leading the September 2002 purchase of the Mt.

The company narrowed its focus back to energy, exited the telecommunications business, and acquired Barrett Resources, adding significant natural gas reserves, primarily in the western United States.2003.

The results of the company’s financial strengthening actions resulted in its return to investment-grade credit.2009.

Williams began investing to grow its business in the Marcellus producing area of the United States Northeast. It also continued to invest in expanding its Transco interstate natural gas pipeline system – the nation’s largest, and fastest-growing – to create access to the “best markets” to the north and south of the Marcellus and Utica supply areas.2014.

Williams placed Transco’s “Big Five” expansion projects into service, increasing capacity on the pipeline by 25%.2017.