Williams rocked by board resignations

The dispute over the direction of oil-and-gas pipeline operator Williams Companies erupted into the open on Friday after nearly half of the company’s board members – including chairman Frank MacInnis – resigned.

Along with Mr MacInnis, Williams said in a statement that Ralph Izzo, Eric Mandelblatt, Keith Meister, Steven Nance and Laura Sug, are all also stepping down from the 13-member board.

The resignations come just days after Dallas-based Energy Transfer Equity officially walked away from its $33bn proposed merger with Williams. The move called into question the future of Williams as a standalone company given the slump in global crude prices over the past two years.

The board members who resigned on Friday appeared to have done so after they sought and failed to replace Alan Armstrong as chief executive.

“Recognizing that it is in the best interests of the stockholders and the company to concentrate on the future, the board of directors has thoroughly evaluated the company’s leadership structure and determined that Alan Armstrong is the right chief executive officer for Williams as the company works to continue enhancing stockholder value,” said Williams in a statement.

“[The members who resigned] disagreed with this strategic direction of the Williams board of directors….[and] decided, in the best interests of stockholders, to resign from the Williams board of directors, effective immediately.”

Shares in Williams fell 5 per cent to $20.57 on the news, taking the stock’s losses to over 64 per cent this year.