Houston, Texas, June 23, 1999-El Paso Energy Corporation (NYSE:EPG) announced today that Ralph Eads will join its senior management team as executive vice president, effective July 1, 1999. Eads will be responsible for two segments of El Paso's unregulated business: the gas and power merchant functions of the company and the exploration and production activities to be acquired when the company completes its merger with Sonat Inc. The Sonat merger is expected to close later this year.

Eads will focus on continuing to grow El Paso's gas marketing and power generation businesses. He will build on the existing successful strategies that have been responsible for the gas and power merchant function's dramatic turnaround and growth over the last two years. Eads will also assist in the development and implementation of a strategy for the new upstream exploration and production function. He will seek to develop synergies between the corporation's marketing, field services, and exploration and production activities.

Eads will report to William A. Wise, chairman, president, and chief executive officer. Greg G. Jenkins, president of the gas and power merchant functions and John B. Holmes, Jr., president of the exploration and production unit, will report to Eads.

"Ralph Eads brings strong strategic insight and proven financial creativity to this organization," said Wise. "As our advisor, he was instrumental in helping us complete our tremendously successful acquisition of Tenneco Energy, and he has played a key role in our pending Sonat merger. The same skills that assisted in these landmark transactions will now be used to accelerate the growth of our various unregulated businesses."

"Eads has intimate knowledge of our company, our industry, and the business climate in which we operate," Wise continued. "He is well known to our other senior executives and will be able to make a quick entry into our organization. One of his early objectives will be to further the power group's strategy of assembling a set of quality, low-cost power generation assets with a focus on plants that are located on or near our coast-to-coast, border-to-border pipeline system."

Prior to joining El Paso Energy, Ralph Eads, age 39, was a Managing Director and Co-Head of the Energy Group at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), a leading international investment and merchant bank. Eads has been involved in the energy investment banking business for over 15 years. He graduated with honors from Duke University in 1981 and serves on the Board of Visitors of Duke University. He is active in several civic organizations, including The Nature Conservancy of Texas, the Houston Ballet, and Small Steps.

"Ralph Eads is joining us at a particularly exciting time in the history of our company," added Wise. "Growing demand for natural gas for power generation, combined with the company's unique supply access and delivery capability, positions El Paso Energy to benefit from the deregulation of the U.S. power industry. Following the merger of El Paso Energy and Sonat Inc., the combined company will have over 40,000 miles of interstate pipeline, the largest in the United States both in terms of pipeline mileage and throughput. This combined network of pipeline systems will transport nearly a quarter of the nation's natural gas every day and will access all the major natural gas supply basins in the country. The pipeline network will serve dynamic markets across the country, including fast-growing markets in the southeast, the northeast, and Florida. The company is poised to meet the increasing need for gas-fueled power generation, particularly along the eastern corridor where demand is growing rapidly."

With over $10 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 natural gas transmission, gas gathering and processing, energy marketing, power generation 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 third or 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 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.