HOUSTON, TEXAS, February 5, 2001-El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EPG), the world's leading natural gas company, announced today the opening of its new 80,000 square foot energy trading facility. The new trade floor, adjacent to the company's headquarters in Houston, is equipped with the most advanced risk management technology in the energy industry. The facility supports more than 500 commercial, trading, risk management, and administrative staff. The Merchant Energy Group will manage the company's marketing and trading activities-including natural gas, power, natural gas liquids, crude oil, refined products, weather derivatives, and other related commodities-by leveraging its flexible, large scale asset portfolio and capitalizing on the company's applied real option platform.

The Merchant Energy asset portfolio is one of the largest in the world and includes natural gas transportation capacity, natural gas storage, refineries, liquefied natural gas terminal rights, products terminals, tankers, shipping rights, and merchant power generation. In addition to physical assets, Merchant Energy possesses proprietary valuation and risk assessment tools along with the deep talent pool necessary to continue achieving industry-leading growth rates and exceptional returns.

"The completion of our new trading facility and the full deployment of our next generation trading platform, THERMs, propels us to a leadership position in the energy marketing and trading arena," said Ralph Eads, president of the Merchant Energy Group. "We now have the best technology and information available to manage the company's assets effectively and provide value-added solutions for customers."

The trade floor is equipped with two 104-foot data screens providing real-time commodity pricing, two 10-foot picture walls to chart pricing trends, and three 100-inch television screens and four 50-inch plasma screens broadcasting the latest news and weather reports. A staff meteorologist also advises traders on weather patterns and trends that may affect commodity prices in specific regions around the world.

A stadium-style floor structure enhances communication on the trade floor by enabling traders to analyze current market conditions and quickly share that information with appropriate staff members. A custom-designed acoustic system consisting of microphones and speakers mounted in the ceiling releases high-frequency tones to buffer noise generated on the trade floor.

Each station is outfitted with at least three adjustable 18-inch flat-panel monitors capable of receiving direct digital feeds from broadcast stations. Traders also are equipped with an advanced telephone system that allows direct access to other exchange markets and the ability to receive television audio for breaking news reports.

A "computer farm" houses all servers and desktops outside the trading area, giving traders more room at their workspace. This unique setup also guarantees reliable connections and virtually uninterrupted operations. An advanced switching system allows instant data recovery and immediate support to each trading station. In addition, a 1,200-horsepower diesel generator is dedicated to providing the trading floor backup power capabilities for one full day.

El Paso Corporation, the world's leading natural gas company, spans the energy value chain from wellhead to electron. With an enterprise value in excess of $50 billion, El Paso is a leader in every phase of the natural gas industry. The company owns and operates a significant portion of the North American natural gas delivery grid, operates the fastest growing, most sophisticated energy merchant group, and is the nation's third largest natural gas producer. El Paso, a leader in real options valuation and risk management techniques, is focused on maximizing shareholder value, transforming existing markets, and speeding the development of new markets. Visit El Paso 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.