El Paso Energy Partners, L.P. (EPN) announced Wednesday that it will build and operate a new 16-inch pipeline to gather natural gas production from the Red Hawk field located in the Garden Banks area of the central Deepwater Trend of the Gulf of Mexico.

EPN has finalized the related agreements with Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corp. and Ocean Energy, Inc., which each hold a 50% working interest in the Red Hawk field. The 86-mile pipeline, capable of transporting up to 330 MMcf/d of natural gas, will originate in 5,300 feet of water at the Red Hawk field and connect to the ANR Pipeline system at Vermilion block 397. EPN plans to place the new pipeline in service during the second quarter of 2004.

Discovered in October 2001, the Red Hawk field is located in an active exploratory and development area of the western Gulf of Mexico. Development drilling is expected to begin in early 2003. The producers have estimated proven reserves of more than 250 Bcf.

Kerr-McGee, the field operator, will develop the field using the world’s first cell spar, with initial production capacity of 120 MMcf/d and ultimate capacity of 300 MMcf/d. The producers expect the Red Hawk production facility to become a host structure for the cost-effective development of nearby satellite fields.

“This new pipeline reinforces our commitment and leadership in developing essential infrastructure for new discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Trend,” said Robert G. Phillips, CEO of EPN. “The Red Hawk project is structured similarly to many of our other Deepwater infrastructure projects with a solid anchor field, strategically located in an active exploratory area, and being developed by experienced operators like Kerr-McGee and Ocean. We believe the Red Hawk gathering system may establish EPN as a major gas supply aggregator in the Garden Banks/Green Canyon corridor and could lead to additional opportunities to serve producers in this area.”

El Paso Energy Partners, L.P. is 26% owned by its general partner, El Paso Corp. The company was known as Leviathan Gas Pipeline Partners, L.P., a business unit of El Paso Energy Corp., until it changed its name to El Paso Energy Partners, L.P. effective Dec. 1,1999. EPN is one of the largest publicly traded master limited partnerships with interests in a diversified set of midstream assets, including onshore and offshore natural gas and oil pipelines; offshore production platforms; natural gas storage and processing facilities, and natural gas liquids fractionation, transportation, storage and terminal assets.

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