HOUSTON, Dec. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) today announced that it and its subsidiary Coastal Eagle Point Oil Company have completed a purchase and sale agreement with Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE: SUN) for the company's Eagle Point refinery for $111 million plus fair market value for related working inventories at time of closing. The companies received approval of the transaction by the Federal Trade Commission and anticipate closing by mid-January 2004.

Sunoco has the option to purchase various refined product pipelines connecting the refinery to regional distribution systems. The refinery, located in Westville, New Jersey across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, has a rated capacity of 150,000 barrels per day.

This sale supports El Paso's recently announced long-range plan to reduce the company's total debt to approximately $15 billion by year-end 2005. This will be achieved primarily through $3.3 billion to $3.9 billion of additional asset sales, the sale of restructured power contracts, the recovery of $500 million to $600 million in working capital, the conversion of the company's 9.00-percent equity security units ($575 million), free cash flow generation, and actions already taken in the fourth quarter of 2003.

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

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, the ability to implement and achieve our objectives in the long-range plan; the successful implementation of the settlement related to the western energy crisis; actions by the credit rating agencies; the successful close of our financing transactions; our ability to successfully exit the energy trading business; our ability to divest of certain assets; changes in commodity prices for oil, natural gas, and power; inability to realize anticipated synergies and cost savings associated with restructurings and divestitures on a timely basis; changes in reserves estimates based upon internal and third party reserve analyses; general economic and weather 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; the uncertainties associated with governmental regulation; the uncertainties associated with the outcome of governmental investigations; the outcome of pending litigation including shareholder derivative and class actions; political and currency risks associated with international operations of the company and its affiliates especially due to the instability in Brazil and economic conditions in Mexico; difficulty in integration of the operations of previously acquired companies, competition, 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
    -0-                             12/30/2003
    /CONTACT:  Investor and Public Relations, Bruce L. Connery, Vice
President, +1-713-420-5855, or fax, +1-713-420-4417, or Media Relations, Mel
Scott, Director, +1-713-420-3039, or fax, +1-713-420-6341, both of El Paso
Corporation/
    /Web site:  http://www.elpaso.com /
    (EP SUN)

CO:  El Paso Corporation; Coastal Eagle Point Oil Company; Sunoco, Inc.
ST:  Texas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey
IN:  OIL
SU:  RLE

CT-CD 
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6566 12/30/2003 08:30 EST http://www.prnewswire.com