NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Consolidated Natural Gas Company
(NYSE: CNG) said today it expects to increase oil and natural gas production
by 15 percent in 1999, helping it reach its previously announced goal of
increasing production by 10 percent a year on average.
CNG anticipates increasing production by 5-7 percent in 1998 and
15 percent in 1999. Production will jump in the fourth quarter of this year as
the "Nautilus" and "Nemo" projects in the Gulf of Mexico come on line, along
with the second phase of "Neptune," a CNG project in the Gulf's deep water.
Nautilus and Nemo have a combined daily capacity of 20,000 barrels of oil
and condensate and 180 million cubic feet of natural gas a day; Neptune's
daily capacity is 35,000 barrels of oil and 32 million cubic feet of natural
gas. CNG holds working interests of 68.5 percent in Nautilus, 100 percent in
Nemo and 50 percent in Neptune.
In 1997, CNG produced 199 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas, a
company record. The company is continuing to target a 150 percent reserve
replacement rate in 1998.
For 1999, CNG's exploration and production (E&P) business is targeted to
provide $200 million of pretax operating income. CNG's strategic goal is to
have E&P contribute 40-50 percent of CNG's overall income as quickly as
possible.
The company plans to continue expanding the E&P business by developing
additional deepwater projects in the Gulf of Mexico; developing international
projects; making acquisitions; and keeping production costs among the lowest
in the industry.
Consolidated Natural Gas Company (CNG) is one of the nation's largest
producers, transporters, distributors and retail marketers of natural gas. The
company's natural gas transmission and distribution operations serve customers
in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, New York and other states in
the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. CNG explores for and produces oil and
natural gas in the United States and Canada. The company also selectively
participates in energy businesses abroad.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The company wishes
to caution readers that the assumptions which form the basis for forward-
looking statements with respect to or that may impact earnings for fiscal
1998, and thereafter, include many factors that are beyond the company's
ability to control or estimate precisely, such as estimates of future market
conditions and the behavior of other market participants. Other factors
include, but are not limited to, weather conditions, economic conditions in
the company's service territory, fluctuations in energy-related commodity
prices, conversion activity, other marketing efforts and other uncertainties.
CNG's recent news releases are available 24 hours a day on the Internet,
by fax machine, or by voice recording. On the Internet, use CNG's Web site:
http://www.cng.com. For faxing, call 1-800-758-5804 on a touch-tone phone and enter
CNG's extension number, which is 203456. From a menu, you will then be able
to select releases that will be faxed to you immediately without charge. For
voice recordings, call 1-888-CNG-NEWS. This line is toll-free.
SOURCE Consolidated Natural Gas Company
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Related links:
http://www.cng.com
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com or
fax, 800-758-5804, ext. 203456
CONTACT:
Dan Donovan of CNG, 412-690-1370
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