HOUSTON, TEXAS, April 7, 1997-Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, a business unit of El Paso Energy Corporation (NYSE:EPG), announced today its plans for a $350-400 million expansion project, called the Eastern Express Project.

The Eastern Express Project involves expansions of two portions of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline system. First, Tennessee's system will be expanded from Station 87 near Portland, Tennessee to the Ellisburg/Leidy hub. Second, Tennessee's system will be expanded from Niagara Falls, New York to the Ellisburg/Leidy hub. The project will include the transportation services of Midwestern Gas Transmission (a subsidiary of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company) to transport up to 500 million cubic feet per day of gas south from existing or planned pipeline interconnects near Chicago to Midwestern's interconnect with Tennessee Gas Pipeline at Station 87. Plans call for shippers to be able to schedule gas across both the Midwestern and Tennessee systems using one nomination in a seamless transaction.

The project, with a proposed in service date of November 1, 1999, provides a low cost option to Canadian, Mid-continent and Gulf Coast shippers to access major natural gas markets in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Eastern Express Project will provide incremental transportation service from Chicago, Illinois and Niagara Falls, New York as well as Tennessee's traditional Gulf Coast supply areas to the market hub at Ellisburg/Leidy. From the Ellisburg/Leidy hub, shippers can access markets served by Transco, Columbia Gas Transmission, Consolidated Natural Gas, National Fuel and Texas Eastern. Additionally, through Tennessee's interconnections with Consolidated and Columbia, and its interconnection with East Tennessee Natural Gas, shippers can access the expanding markets in the mid-Atlantic and southeast.

The Eastern Express Project announced today will supplement Tennessee's Leidy Project to transport gas from Niagara to Leidy, Pennsylvania. The open season for that project closed on January 21, 1997.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline, a major transporter of natural gas, is uniquely positioned to provide transportation service to all major gas-consuming markets. The pipeline also provides shippers access to gas from major producing basins, including the Gulf Coast, Mid-continent and Canada. According to William A. Wise, chairman, president and chief executive officer, "When El Paso Energy Corporation acquired Tenneco Energy, we viewed Tennessee Gas Pipeline as a platform for key growth opportunities in the northeast. This project is consistent with our vision of moving forward in a positive way as one of the major players in the industry."

John W. Somerhalder II, president of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company said, "The beauty of this project is its simplicity. We don't have to lay a lot of new pipe to get the job done. Instead, we'll get the flexibility we need to meet our shippers' requirements with fewer impediments than any other competing pipeline project. Through a combination of adding compression and looping existing pipeline, the Eastern Express Project is cost effective, environmentally responsible, and can be completed at comparatively low risk."

The open season for the Eastern Express Project will commence at 8:00 a.m. (central daylight time) on April 16, 1997 and close at 5:00 p.m. on June 16, 1997. Tennessee will also have an open season to solicit capacity turnbacks from existing customers in the relevant portions of the system. The final design of the project will be based on both open season results and execution of precedent agreements.

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 companies have 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 companies make these statements and projections in good faith, neither the companies nor their managements can guarantee that the anticipated future results will be achieved. Reference should be made to the companies' (and their affiliates') Securities and Exchange Commission filings for additional important factors that may affect actual results.