OREANDA-NEWS. Energy Transfer said it will likely cut its 2016 spending by $750mn to $4.2bn to shore up its credit ratings, which fell after it unveiled its plan to buy Williams last year.

Moody's Investors Service on 8 January downgraded Energy Transfer Equity's outlook to stable from positive.

In addition to the spending cuts, Energy Transfer said it is also evaluating financing for its Bakken pipeline project, which would deliver Bakken crude to the Gulf coast.

The family of partnerships underneath Energy Transfer Equity includes Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners. Energy Transfer operates roughly 62,500 miles of natural gas and NGL lines throughout the US, and Sunoco operates NGL and products pipelines, including an LPG export facility in Nederland, Texas.

Energy Transfer Equity last week replaced its chief financial officer, Jamie Welch, with Thomas Long, currently the chief financial officer of Energy Transfer Partners. In a filing today, Energy Transfer Equity said Welch's removal "was not based on any disagreement with respect to any accounting or financial matter," and noted it is discussing a potential consulting arrangement with Welch related to its LNG export project.