Houston, Texas, March 20, 1998 -El Paso Energy International Company, a business unit of El Paso Energy Corporation (NYSE:EPG), announced today that the final stage of its three-phase, 240 megawatt (MW) Manaus power plant is scheduled to be on-line by early next week. The plant is currently providing 174 MW of power to the city of Manaus, the capital city of the state of Amazonas in northern Brazil.

The first two phases of the power project are fully operational. Phase three, the barge-mounted portion of the project, is partially operational and is expected to deliver the remainder of the plant's 240 MW of power next week. The power plants, which first began delivering power in December 1997, were built on a fast track to help relieve frequent blackouts and power shortages in the capital city. The outages were the result of rapid growth in electrical demand and an unusually dry period causing a reduction in hydroelectric generating capacity. Power from the plant will be sold under a four year contract to Eletronorte which has an option to extend the agreement.

"Power rationing in the city of Manaus has been dramatically reduced since our first unit was declared operational," said John Hushon, president of El Paso Energy International. "We knew this was an aggressive construction schedule. We built the financial consequences of possible delays into our budget. The contract required that power commence incrementally by December with the complete 240 megawatts realized in mid-March. We plan to deliver that level of power to Manaus within a week.

"In addition, El Paso Energy International is moving forward with the development of three additional Brazilian power plants, one located in Macaé, another in Corumbá, and the third in Paraná. We also are preparing to bid on other electrical privatization this year."

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.

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.