Houston, Texas, October 20, 1999-The Board of Directors of El Paso Energy Corporation (NYSE:EPG) announced today the election of the following individuals to senior officer positions within the company: Jeffrey I. Beason-senior vice president and controller, Norma F. Dunn-senior vice president, Graciela E. Martinez-senior vice president, James R. McCotter-senior vice president and deputy general counsel, and C. Dana Rice-senior vice president and treasurer. These promotions reflect the significant increase in responsibility for each of these individuals as a result of the pending merger between El Paso Energy and Sonat Inc.

Jeffrey I. Beason joined El Paso in 1978. He held various accounting and financial reporting positions within El Paso Natural Gas Company and served as director of Financial Planning before becoming senior vice president of Administration for Mojave Pipeline Operating Company in 1993. In 1996, he became vice president and controller for El Paso Energy. He is a certified public accountant and a member of the Texas and California Societies of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs. Mr. Beason is a member of the board of directors for various civic organizations and is a graduate of Texas Tech University.

Norma F. Dunn joined the company in 1987. Her various positions with El Paso Energy have included special projects, customer services within the marketing organization, and Strategic Planning. She established the Investor Relations group in 1992 when El Paso Energy completed its initial public offering following the spin-off from Burlington Resources, and became vice president of Investor and Public Relations in 1993. Ms. Dunn is also president of the El Paso Energy Foundation, the company's primary channel for philanthropic and charitable contributions. She is a certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Public Relations Society of America. Ms. Dunn currently serves on the boards of directors for a number of civic, cultural, and educational organizations and is active in various industry organizations. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso.

Graciela E. Martinez joined El Paso Energy in 1986 and held a variety of positions within the Information Technology group, most recently as vice president, Information Technology-a position she assumed in 1996. Ms. Martinez managed the company's transition from a mainframe to client-server environment and was responsible for merging the information technology systems following El Paso's merger with Tenneco Energy in 1996. Ms. Martinez is on the advisory board of the CIO forum in Houston and serves on the board of directors for numerous civic, cultural and educational programs. Ms. Martinez earned her degree from Colegio Latino Americano in Mexico.

James R. McCotter joined El Paso Energy in 1994 as associate general counsel for El Paso Natural Gas Company. He was promoted to vice president, Law and Administration in 1995, and has served as vice president, deputy general counsel of El Paso Energy since December 1996. Mr. McCotter is an active member of the boards of directors for a variety of civic and arts programs. He is a member of the Colorado Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Texas Bar Association, and the Federal Energy Bar Association. Mr. McCotter earned a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a law degree from the University of Colorado School of Law.

C. Dana Rice joined El Paso Natural Gas in 1977 as an analyst in the Financial Forecast department. He became director of the Planning department in 1992, director of the Accounting department in 1996, and vice president of Finance for Tennessee Gas Pipeline in December of 1996. In 1998, Mr. Rice became vice president and treasurer for El Paso Energy. Mr. Rice is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Rice received his degree from the University of Texas at El Paso.

With over $10 billion in assets, El Paso Energy Corporation provides energy solutions through its strategic business units: Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, El Paso Natural Gas Company, El Paso Field Services Company, El  Paso Power Services Company, El Paso Merchant Energy 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 natural gas transmission, gas gathering and processing, power generation, energy marketing, and international energy infrastructure development. On June 10, the stockholders of both El Paso Energy and Sonat Inc. overwhelmingly voted in favor of merging the two organizations. The merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, concurrent with the completion of regulatory reviews. 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 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.