NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Consolidated Natural Gas Company's
exploration and production subsidiary, CNG Producing Company, announced today
its participation in a deepwater discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore
Louisiana.
The discovery was made at the North Marlin Prospect operated by Shell
Deepwater Development, Inc., at Viosca Knoll Block 827. It is in 2,521 feet
of water, about 135 miles southeast of New Orleans. The well has penetrated a
pay zone in the Middle Miocene section at 11,500 feet. The gross
hydrocarbon-bearing interval is approximately 135 feet, consisting of
laminated turbidite sands similar to the predominantly natural gas reservoirs
in Shell's adjacent Tahoe Field. Current operations are running casing.
Additional objectives will be penetrated prior to reaching total depth.
Shell Deepwater Development, Inc., has a 35 percent working interest in
the field and is the operator. CNG Producing Company holds a 35 percent
working interest, and Murphy Exploration and Production Company holds the
remaining 30 percent interest.
North Marlin is CNG's third deepwater project. It follows successful
projects Popeye (37.5 percent interest) and Neptune (50 percent interest),
operated by Shell and Oryx Energy Company, respectively. CNG is the third
largest producer in the deep water, behind Shell Deepwater and BP Exploration
Inc., based on a study by James K. Dodson, Offshore magazine, June 1998.
New Orleans-based CNG Producing Company is one of the country's largest
independent producers of oil and natural gas. It is responsible for all the
exploration and development activities of Pittsburgh-based Consolidated
Natural Gas Company (NYSE: CNG), which is one of the nation's largest
producers, transporters, distributors and retail marketers of natural gas.
This news 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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Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/203456.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 203456
CONTACT:
Dan Donovan of Consolidated Natural Gas
Company, 412-690-1370
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