Discovery Midstream was a DJ Basin gathering and processing company founded in Colorado in 2015. By 2018 it had been sold to a KKR/Williams joint venture for $1.2bn. By 2023, it had been fully absorbed into Williams Companies and the brand had ceased to exist. If you are searching for Discovery Midstream today, the assets are now operated as Williams’ Discovery G&P system within its West segment.
What Discovery Midstream Built
Discovery Midstream was founded in 2015 by Steven Meisel and Drew Chambers, backed by TPG Growth, to develop midstream infrastructure in Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin. The company focused on natural gas and crude oil gathering pipelines, cryogenic gas processing, liquids handling, and crude oil storage across more than 250,000 dedicated acres in Weld and Adams counties.
By the time of its sale, Discovery had a 60 MMcf/d cryogenic processing plant operational and a second 200 MMcf/d facility fully permitted and under construction, expected in service by the end of 2018. Revenue came from fee-based gathering agreements with producers operating across its dedicated acreage — a structure that provided volume-linked but downside-protected cash flows.
The 2018 Sale to KKR and Williams
On 30 July 2018, TPG Growth announced the sale of Discovery Midstream to a newly formed 50/50 joint venture between KKR and Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) for approximately $1.2bn. The transaction closed in Q3 2018. TPG was advised by Vinson & Elkins on legal matters and Jefferies on the financial side.
The JV was structured under a holding entity called Rocky Mountain Midstream, which became the operational parent of the Discovery gathering and processing system. Williams brought its existing DJ Basin knowledge and commercial relationships; KKR brought capital and infrastructure investment expertise. For both, the DJ Basin’s active producer base — anchored by operators running multi-well pad programmes in the Wattenberg field — made the fee-based Discovery system an attractive long-term hold.
Williams Acquires Full Control in 2023
The joint venture did not last indefinitely. In Q3 2023, Williams announced it would acquire KKR’s remaining 50% interest in Rocky Mountain Midstream — the parent of the Discovery G&P system — for $714m. The deal was announced simultaneously with Williams’ acquisition of Cureton Midstream for $560m, with both transactions expanding Williams’ position in the DJ Basin in a single strategic step.
Following both acquisitions, Williams held approximately 12% of DJ Basin gas production volumes, making it the third-largest midstream operator in the basin behind DCP Midstream at roughly 40% and Western Midstream at approximately 44%. East Daley Analytics projected the Discovery system would generate around $101m in adjusted EBITDA in 2024 — a meaningful contribution to a business of Williams’ scale, but significant enough to justify the acquisition price on its own terms.
Discovery Midstream Today: Inside Williams
Discovery Midstream as a standalone brand no longer exists. The gathering pipelines, processing plants, and crude storage assets it built in Weld and Adams counties now operate as the Discovery G&P system within Williams’ West segment. Williams (NYSE: WMB) is a Fortune 500 company with a market capitalisation of approximately $70.7bn as of October 2025. It handles roughly one-third of all US natural gas volumes and operates more than 33,000 miles of pipeline across 24 states.
Williams reported adjusted EBITDA of approximately $7.1bn in 2024 — its twelfth consecutive year of adjusted EBITDA growth. The Discovery G&P system is one of several regional gathering and processing operations folded into that West segment result. For producers still operating under the original fee-based agreements, the counterparty has changed; the infrastructure has not.
Discovery Midstream sits alongside other acquired and retired midstream brands — companies that built real assets in active basins and were absorbed into larger operators as consolidation reshaped the sector. The top US midstream companies now controlling most of the DJ Basin’s throughput are significantly larger platforms than the independent builders like Discovery that preceded them. For a broader view of the operators that dominate North American midstream infrastructure today, see the Top 10 Midstream Companies 2026.
What happened to Discovery Midstream?
Discovery Midstream was sold to a 50/50 KKR/Williams joint venture in 2018 for approximately $1.2bn. Williams then acquired KKR’s remaining 50% interest in 2023 for $714m, taking full control of the assets. The Discovery Midstream brand no longer exists independently.
Who owns the Discovery Midstream assets now?
The assets are owned and operated by Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB) as part of its West segment, under the name Discovery G&P system. Williams is a Fortune 500 company handling approximately one-third of all US natural gas volumes.
Where were Discovery Midstream’s assets located?
Discovery Midstream’s gathering and processing assets were located in Colorado’s Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin, across more than 250,000 dedicated acres in Weld and Adams counties. The infrastructure included natural gas gathering pipelines, cryogenic processing plants, and crude oil storage.
How much did Williams pay for Discovery Midstream?
Williams paid approximately $1.2bn (with KKR) for the initial acquisition in 2018, and a further $714m to buy out KKR’s 50% stake in Rocky Mountain Midstream — the holding entity for the Discovery system — in 2023. Total Williams-side outlay across both transactions was approximately $1.314bn.
How large is Williams Companies’ DJ Basin operation?
Following its 2023 acquisitions of Rocky Mountain Midstream and Cureton Midstream, Williams held approximately 12% of DJ Basin gas production volumes, making it the third-largest midstream operator in the basin behind DCP Midstream and Western Midstream.