PITTSBURGH and HOUSTON, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- CNG International
Corporation and El Paso Energy International Company announced the completion
of the purchase of two natural gas pipelines in Western Australia from the
Broken Hill Pty Co Ltd (BHP) for $129 million (Australian). The sale's value
in U.S. currency is approximately $75 million.
The purchase includes the 134-mile, high-pressure Pilbara Pipeline that
serves BHP's hot briquetted iron plant in Port Hedland, Western Australia, and
a 15-mile extension to production facilities in Burrup. The Burrup Extension
is about 70 percent completed and is expected to be open in December.
The pipelines will be operated by Epic Energy Australia, Australia's
largest natural gas transmission company, which operates more than 2,200 miles
of pipelines and annually transports about 38 percent of the nation's natural
gas. CNG and El Paso Energy share the controlling interest in Epic Energy.
CNG and El Paso Energy each own one-third of the two Western Australia
pipelines. Three Australian companies -- Axiom Funds Management, AMP
Investments, and Hastings Funds Management -- share the other one-third
equally.
BHP announced its intention to sell the pipelines to Epic in December,
1997.
CNG International is a subsidiary of Consolidated Natural Gas Company
(NYSE: CNG), one of the nation's largest producers, transporters, distributors
and marketers of natural gas. The company's natural gas transmission and
distribution operations serve customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, 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, and makes selective investments abroad.
With over $9 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 interstate natural gas transmission, gas gathering and
processing, energy marketing, and international infrastructure development.
Visit El Paso Energy's web site at http://www.epenergy.com.
SOURCE Consolidated Natural Gas Company
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Related links:
http://www.epenergy.com
CONTACT:
Chet Wade of CNG, 412-690-1361, or Norma Dunn
of El Paso Energy, 713-420-3750
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