In the news release and in an email obtained by the Tulsa World that Williams CEO Alan Armstrong sent to employees, Williams’ leadership reiterated that the company will be strong moving forward on a standalone basis.

The news release said that while taking appropriate actions to enforce its rights and deliver benefits of the merger agreement to its stockholders, Williams will renew its focus on connecting the best natural gas supplies to the best markets.

In the communication to employees Wednesday morning, Armstrong thanked the workforce and said that he recognized the challenges of the past year and the resulting distraction, stress and anxiety that they caused.

“We can now begin to look ahead and move forward as a standalone company, renewing our focus on connecting the best natural gas supplies to the best markets,” Armstrong said. “This effort begins today.”

Armstrong told employees that ETE’s termination also means that Williams is released from any related interim operating covenants of the merger transaction and can immediately cease all integration-planning efforts.