HOUSTON, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) announced today that Ruby Pipeline, LLC has executed long-term precedent agreements with two additional shippers, bringing the total long-term capacity commitments on Ruby to 650,000 dekatherms per day.

In addition, El Paso announced that a binding open season for the Ruby Pipeline project began Friday, February 15, and will conclude April 18. Related binding open seasons for Rockies capacity on the Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd. (WIC) and Colorado Interstate Gas Company (CIG) pipeline systems were also announced by El Paso. El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB) owns a 100 percent interest in WIC and a 10 percent interest in CIG.

The open season for WIC capacity upstream of the Opal Hub in Wyoming -- which includes transportation paths from the Uinta Basin, the Piceance Basin, and the Cheyenne Hub -- began February 18 and will end March 21. The open season for CIG capacity from the Raton Basin to the Opal Hub will begin February 22 and end March 20.

"The open seasons for capacity on the WIC and CIG systems will afford shippers the opportunity to obtain capacity on those pipelines from key supply areas to the Opal Hub before the open season for the Ruby Pipeline project ends," said Tom Price, Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, El Paso's Western Pipeline Group. "We have two goals in these simultaneous open seasons," Price said. "First, we want to continue to alleviate constraints on moving Rocky Mountain natural gas to consumers, generally. Second, we want to provide shippers with a greater array of options to move gas supplies to Opal and then on to demand regions in the western United States via the Ruby Pipeline."

The proposed Ruby Pipeline project is a 680-mile, 42-inch interstate natural gas transmission pipeline that would begin at the Opal Hub in Wyoming and terminate at the Malin, Oregon interconnect near California's northern border. It is expected that Ruby will have an initial design capacity of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) and is expandable to 2 Bcf/d. Subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other regulatory approvals, and after obtaining necessary customer commitments, the Ruby Pipeline is anticipated to be in service in the first quarter of 2011.

For more information on the Ruby project and open season, visit http://www.rubypipeline.com. For information on the WIC and CIG open seasons, go to http://www.elpaso.com, and click on Pipelines, Informational Postings, then select either WIC or CIG, and finally access Notices for each pipeline. The Notice will describe the open season and will provide further instructions on accessing the open season itself.

Company representatives will be available to discuss the open seasons, and a meeting for interested parties has been scheduled from 9 a.m. through a 12 p.m. luncheon, Friday, February 22, at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. Advance reservations are required, and information packages will be forwarded to those making meeting reservations. The contact for the meeting is Carol Champion at (719) 520-4373.

El Paso Corporation provides natural gas and related energy products in a safe, efficient, and dependable manner. The company owns North America's largest interstate natural gas pipeline system and one of North America's largest independent natural gas producers. For more information, visit http://www.elpaso.com.

El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership formed by El Paso Corporation in 2007 to own and operate natural gas transportation pipelines and storage assets, owns Wyoming Interstate Company, Ltd., an interstate pipeline system serving the Rocky Mountain region, and a 10 percent interest in each of the Colorado Interstate Gas Company and Southern Natural Gas Company interstate pipelines, which operate in the Rocky Mountain and southeastern regions of the United States, respectively. For more information about El Paso Pipeline Partners, visit http://www.eppipelinepartners.com. El Paso Corporation owns 56.2 million limited partner units and 1.7 million general partner units of El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P.

El Paso Corporation Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements and projections, made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company has made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information and assumptions on which these statements and projections are based are current, reasonable, and complete. However, a variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release, including, without limitation, our ability to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals and to successfully construct and operate the proposed facilities described in this release; general economic conditions in geographic regions or markets served by El Paso Corporation and its affiliates, or where operations of the company and its affiliates are located, and other factors described in the company's (and its affiliates') Securities and Exchange Commission filings. While the company makes these statements and projections in good faith, neither the company nor its management can guarantee that anticipated future results will be achieved. Reference must be made to those filings for additional important factors that may affect actual results. The company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by the company, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes forward-looking statements and projections, made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company has made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information and assumptions on which these statements and projections are based are current, reasonable, and complete. However, a variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release, including, without limitation, our ability to obtain all necessary regulatory approvals and to successfully construct and operate the proposed facilities in the timeframe and at the projected costs described in this release; our ability to contract for the quantities nominated by shippers in the open season; our ability to increase cash distributions from the partnership based upon the anticipated contractual commitments from the project; our ability to finance the project costs through our corporate revolver and any changes in the anticipated interest costs thereunder; general economic conditions in geographic regions or markets served by WIC, El Paso Pipeline Partners and their affiliates, or where operations of the company and its affiliates are located, and other factors described in the company's (and its affiliates') Securities and Exchange Commission filings. While the company makes these statements and projections in good faith, neither the company nor its management can guarantee that anticipated future results will be achieved. Reference must be made to those filings for additional important factors that may affect actual results. The company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by the company, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE El Paso Corporation
02/19/2008

CONTACT: Investor-Media Relations, Bruce L. Connery, Vice President, +1-713-420-5855, fax, +1-713-420-4417, or Media Relations, Richard Wheatley, Manager, +1-713-420-6828, fax, +1-713-420-6431, or Project Information, Craig Coombs, +1-719-520-4387, or Tom Dobson, +1-719-520-4606, or Roland Harris, +1-719-520-4380, or Ed Miller, +1-719-520-4305, or Laine Lobban, +1-719-520-4344, or Liz Simonton, +1-719-667-7544, all of El Paso Corporation

7018 02/19/2008 08:00 EST http://www.prnewswire.com