HOUSTON, TEXAS, June 24, 1997-Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, a business unit of El Paso Energy Corporation (NYSE:EPG), announced today that the Open Season for the Eastern Express Project has closed. The project was proposed in April to provide gas transportation service to Canadian, mid-continent and Gulf Coast shippers to the Ellisburg/Leidy hub which provides access to the large and growing northeast and mid-Atlantic markets.

The company received requests for service of approximately 500 MMcf/d. Close to 90 percent of this volume is for service from the Chicago hub to various points on the Tennessee and Midwestern Gas pipelines. The company is working with these shippers to provide the requested service in a timely manner. Tennessee Gas Pipeline plans to file its application with the FERC this fall. Service is scheduled to begin November 1, 1999.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline is also announcing a second phase of the Eastern Express Project to meet the additional needs of shippers that expressed interest in alternate delivery points outside the initial scope of the project. This will allow shippers with uncertainty about their capacity upstream of the Eastern Express Project extra time to finalize their strategy and make firm commitments. Tennessee Gas Pipeline is prepared to work with shippers to meet their needs on a flexible basis with service beginning in 2000 or sooner if possible. Additional details about the Eastern Express 2000 Project will be announced soon.

"Our discussions with major shippers in the industry clearly indicate consensus that the Eastern Express Project makes the most sense when compared to other competing projects that transport gas to the northeast," said Jay Holm, senior vice president, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company. "Our proposal has a significant advantage compared to other large grass roots projects because it can provide smaller increments of capacity as the market requires. We're ready to make those commitments."

Tennessee Gas Pipeline's open season solicited binding commitments from shippers rather than the two step process used by other projects. Those projects initially sought non-binding expressions of interest with the possibility of firm commitments made at a later date.

In its associated solicitation for capacity turnback, customers with relevant capacity tendered approximately 90 MMcf/d. Holm said it is significant that the tendered volume represents only about seven percent of Tennessee's total contracts which were eligible for turnback under the terms of the solicitation. Holm says this confirms the value of capacity on Tennessee's system.

El Paso Energy Corporation provides total energy solutions through four business units: El Paso Natural Gas Company, Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, El Paso Energy Resources Company and El Paso Energy International Company. With offices worldwide, the company has operations in interstate natural gas transmission, gas gathering and processing, energy marketing, and international energy infrastructure development.

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. While the company makes these statements and projections in good faith, neither the company nor its management can guarantee that the anticipated future results will be achieved. Reference should be made to the company's (and its affiliates') Securities and Exchange Commission filings for additional important factors that may affect actual results.