Houston, Texas, August 14, 1998-El Paso Field Services Company, a business unit of El Paso Energy Corporation (NYSE:EPG), is working to bring the Chaco Cryogenic processing plant back online after Thursday morning's flash fire. The flash fire, which occurred during routine maintenance at one of the facility's three refrigeration/deethanizer compressors, triggered the plant's emergency shutdown system, which safely shut in the plant. There were no fatalities; however, three employees of the company were injured in the incident. They are Myron Keith Davis, 55, a 26-year company employee, Wayland Moore, Jr., 54, a 21-year company employee and Urban J. Trujillo, 44, a 21-year employee with the company. The extent of their injuries is unknown at this time.

An executive team is at the plant to determine the cause of the fire and to evaluate damages. Based upon the team's initial assessment, damage to the cryogenic plant is minimal and concentrated in the compressor building where the fire occurred. The company is continuing its review and will begin repairs immediately. The facility, which is located 20 miles south of Farmington, New Mexico, should be back in full service within 72 hours, with the possibility of partial service commencing earlier. El Paso Field Services continues to gather approximately 520 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) through the San Juan gathering system for redelivery to El Paso Natural Gas Company. These volumes will be unaffected by the shutdown at Chaco. Field Services has contacted its producers/suppliers in the San Juan basin to reduce supplies accordingly. Producer cooperation during this period has been excellent. Field Services will continue to post notices on its electronic bulletin board throughout the weekend to keep customers informed of the status of repairs at the plant.

With over $9 billion in assets, El Paso Energy Corporation provides energy solutions through five business units: Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, El Paso Natural Gas Company, El Paso Field Services Company, El Paso Energy Marketing Company, and El Paso Energy International Company. The company owns the nation's only integrated coast-to-coast natural gas pipeline system and has operations in interstate natural gas transmission, gas gathering and processing, energy marketing, and international infrastructure development. Visit El Paso Energy's web site at www.epenergy.com.

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.