Enterprise Acquires Natural Gas Gathering and Processing Companies fro

    Business Editors/Energy Editors

    HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 24, 2005--Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE:EPD) today announced it has acquired two subsidiaries of El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EP) which own and operate a natural gas gathering system and natural gas cryogenic processing plant located in East Texas for $74.5 million. All required regulatory approvals were received prior to closing. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to the Enterprise's cash flow in 2005.
    The companies acquired own an 80 percent equity interest in three gathering systems located in Polk County, Texas, which represent a combined 89 miles of 2-inch to 12-inch pipeline system and a 75 percent equity interest in the Indian Springs gas processing facility located in Polk County, Texas. The Indian Springs processing plant has capacity to process up to 120 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. In addition, there is an idle 20 million cubic feet per day train available for restart to support an increase in gas volumes. The gas processed at the Indian Springs plant is sourced from the Polk County gas gathering systems, as well as the nearby Big Thicket gathering system. Big Thicket is a 240-mile pipeline system located in Tyler and Hardin Counties that is owned and operated by Enterprise. Together these gathering systems cover a significant portion of the prolific Woodbine, Wilcox and Yegua production areas of Polk, Tyler and Hardin Counties in East Texas. Additionally, the Indian Springs plant produces over 6,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids ("NGLs") that are currently fractionated at a facility in Mont Belvieu that is owned by a third party under a contract that will expire in May 2006.
    "These entities will fit very well with our core businesses of natural gas gathering and processing, and will strengthen our group of fee-based assets," said O.S. "Dub" Andras, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Products Partners L.P. "We expect to create additional value from this purchase by integrating the Indian Springs and Big Thicket systems and fractionating the NGL production at our facilities in Mont Belvieu beginning in June 2006."
    Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is one of the largest publicly traded energy partnerships with an enterprise value of approximately $14 billion, and is a leading North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, NGLs and crude oil. Enterprise transports natural gas, NGLs and crude oil through 31,000 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines and is an industry leader in the development of midstream infrastructure in the Deepwater Trend of the Gulf of Mexico. Services include natural gas transportation, gathering, processing and storage; NGL fractionation (or separation), transportation, storage, and import and export terminaling; crude oil transportation and offshore production platform services. For more information, visit Enterprise on the web at www.epplp.com.

    This press release contains various forward-looking statements and information that are based on Enterprise's beliefs and those of its general partner, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Enterprise. When used in this press release, words such as "anticipate," "project," "expect," "plan," "goal," "forecast," "intend," "could," "believe," "may," and similar expressions and statements regarding the plans and objectives of Enterprise for future operations, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although Enterprise and its general partner believe that such expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, neither Enterprise nor its general partner can give assurances that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, Enterprise's actual results may vary materially from those Enterprise anticipated, estimated, projected or expected. Among the key risk factors that may have a direct bearing on Enterprise's results of operations and financial condition are:

CONTACT: Enterprise Products Partners L.P. Investor Relations Randy Burkhalter, 713-880-6812 www.epplp.com

KEYWORD: TEXAS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OIL/GAS ENVIRONMENT MANUFACTURING ENERGY UTILITIES MERGERS/ACQ SOURCE: Enterprise Products Partners L.P.

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