CNG Energy Services Has `Power Surge' in Second Quarter; Sales Total 4.5 Million Megawatt-Hours vs. 477,000 a Year Earlier; Total Does Not Include Recently Announced Ormet, ABAG Deals; Sales for Six Months Exceed Volume For All of 1996;

PITTSBURGH, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- CNG Energy Services Corporation said today it sold 4.5 million megawatt-hours of electricity in the second quarter of this year -- nearly 10 times the amount it sold in the same period last year. CNG Energy Services' wholesale power sales for the first six months of 1997 totaled 7.1 million megawatt-hours. That total already exceeds the 5.0 million megawatt-hours sold in all of 1996. "We are extremely pleased with the rapid expansion of our power marketing business," said Thomas E. Dodd, vice president of power at CNG Energy Services. "And these numbers do not reflect some of our recently announced deals, such as a 10-year contract to supply Ormet Primary Aluminum Corporation and a one-year contract with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). Those volumes will flow in future years." CNG Energy Services sold 477,000 megawatt-hours of electricity in the second quarter of 1996. Through the first six months of 1996, power sales totaled 1.3 million megawatt-hours. The company announced last month that it has signed an agreement with Ormet to provide up to 527 megawatts of power for Ormet's aluminum reduction plant and rolling mill in Hannibal, Ohio. The agreement, which takes effect in January 2000, involves managing power supplies and related services valued at more than $1 billion. In May, CNG Energy Services announced a joint proposal with Seattle City Light to provide up to 30 megawatts of firm power to members of the ABAG, an agency of 104 local governments in the San Francisco Bay area. That contract takes effect in 1998. Also in May, CNG Energy Services became one of the first energy marketers to be approved by Pennsylvania to sell electricity directly to homeowners, businesses and other end users in that state. Those sales are expected to start by the end of this year. "CNG Energy Services had a very successful spring in power marketing and we look forward to continued growth in the coming years by providing customers with what they need: customized products and services at competitive prices," Mr. Dodd said. CNG Energy Services, based in Pittsburgh, is the unregulated energy marketing subsidiary of Consolidated Natural Gas Company. Along with being one of the nation's largest independent wholesale power marketers, the company is one of the largest natural gas marketers in the Northeast and offers a complete line of energy trading and risk management services. Consolidated Natural Gas Company (NYSE: CNG) is one of the nation's largest producers, transporters, distributors and marketers of natural gas, and offers a variety of energy marketing services throughout North America. 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 natural gas and oil in the United States and Canada and selectively participates in energy businesses abroad. 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.