HOUSTON, TEXAS, June 24, 2002—Southern Natural Gas Company, a subsidiary of El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EP), today announced that it is placing the first phase of its South System Expansion I project into service. The 35-mile pipeline project includes various large-diameter pipes and 39,000 horsepower of compression, increasing the firm capacity on Southern Natural's pipeline system by 140 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). Southern Company Services, South Carolina Pipeline Corporation, and the City of LaGrange, Georgia, executed long-term, firm transportation service agreements to support the project. The second phase of this project, which is scheduled to be in-service June 2003, will provide an additional 196 MMcf/d of firm capacity.

The South System I project is the first of three such market-area projects that Southern Natural will complete during the next two years. These three pipeline system expansions are fully supported by long-term, firm transportation agreements, and are scheduled to be in-service by May 2004. The three expansions will increase Southern Natural's pipeline system capacity by 700 MMcf/d at a capital cost of approximately $400 million. More than 90 percent of the total firm capacity created by these projects will serve new natural gas-fired electric generation plants.

"Our three pipeline expansions will provide firm transportation for new power plants with a total generation capacity of approximately 5,500 megawatts located across Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina," said Jim Yardley, president of Southern Natural Gas. "We are well positioned to install the necessary infrastructure for natural gas to reach new markets in the Southeast and look forward to the timely completion of the remaining portions of our expansion projects as we continue to serve all of our customers."

El Paso Corporation is North America's leading provider of natural gas services. The company has core businesses in natural gas production, gathering and processing, and transmission, as well as liquefied natural gas transport and receiving, petroleum logistics, power generation, and merchant energy services. El Paso Corporation, rich in assets and fully integrated across the natural gas value chain, is committed to developing new supplies and technologies to deliver energy to communities around the world. For more information, visit www.elpaso.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.