HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwire - January 27, 2009) - El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) announced today that it has filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) an application, under Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act, for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct and operate the Ruby Pipeline.

"Additional capacity out of the Rockies is urgently needed, and Ruby is the right solution to help end users and producers," said Jim Cleary, president of El Paso's Western Pipelines. "We have completed the environmental, archaeological, and subsurface assessments for our proposed route and are on track to be in service in March 2011, pending FERC approval."

The proposed 675-mile, 42-inch interstate natural gas pipeline will access growing sources of supply from multiple Rockies' basins and make those supplies available to Nevada, California, and Pacific Northwest markets. Ruby is expected to have an initial design capacity of up to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day.

El Paso Corporation provides natural gas and related energy products in a safe, efficient, and dependable manner. The company owns North America's largest interstate natural gas pipeline system and one of North America's largest independent natural gas producers. For more information, visit www.elpaso.com. For more information on the Ruby project, visit www.rubypipeline.com.

El Paso Corporation Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This release includes certain forward-looking statements and projections. The company has made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information and assumptions on which these statements and projections are based are current, reasonable, and complete. However, a variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release, including, without limitation, our ability to obtain all necessary federal, state and local regulatory approvals; our ability to successfully construct and operate the proposed facilities described in this release; general economic conditions in geographic regions or markets served by El Paso Corporation and its affiliates, or where operations of the company and its affiliates are located, and other factors described in the company's (and its affiliates') Securities and Exchange Commission filings. While the company makes these statements and projections in good faith, neither the company nor its management can guarantee that anticipated future results will be achieved. Reference must be made to those filings for additional important factors that may affect actual results. The company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements made herein or any other forward-looking statements made by the company, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.