El Paso Energy Corp. completed its acquisition of Crystal GasStorage Inc. of Shreveport, LA. Each holder of Crystal Gas Storagecommon stock received $57 per share in cash in a deal worth $224.6million. “The Crystal assets provide the flexibility, highdeliverability, and multiple pipeline interconnects necessary tomeet the gas supply demands of new plants in the competitive powermarket,” said El Paso CEO William A. Wise.

The deal was announced in October. Crystal owns and operates,through wholly owned subsidiaries, two salt dome storage facilitiesnear Hattiesburg, MS, and holds various interests in gasproperties, primarily in Arkansas and Louisiana. Combined, thecaverns have 6.7 Bcf of working gas capacity. A 7 Bcf expansion isawaiting FERC certification and is fully subscribed by Southern Co.Services, which operates electric utilities in Mississippi, Alabamaand Georgia.

The storage facility straddles both El Paso’s Tennessee NaturalGas and Southern Natural Gas, which El Paso is in the process ofacquiring. The facility also straddles Koch Gateway and Transco.

Crystal Gas Storage currently owns and operates through whollyowned subsidiaries two gas storage facilities near Hattiesburg, MS,and holds various interests in gas properties primarily in Arkansasand Louisiana.

Joe Fisher, Houston

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