Sempra Energy Unit Completes Sale of Michigan, Louisiana Natural Gas Storage Assets


SAN DIEGO, Sept. 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) today announced it has completed the sale of an indirect subsidiary whose principal assets are two natural gas storage facilities, Bluewater Gas Storage and Pine Prairie Energy Center, for $250 million, to Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE:PAA) and Vulcan Capital.

On Aug. 22, 2005, Sempra Energy announced the agreement to sell Energy Center Investments Corporation, whose two principal assets are Bluewater Gas Storage and Pine Prairie Energy Center.

Bluewater Gas Storage, located in St. Clair, Mich., is a gas storage facility with current capacity of 20 billion cubic feet (Bcf) that went into operation in May 2004. Pine Prairie Energy Center is a planned salt-cavern gas storage project with expected capacity of 24 Bcf under development in Evangeline Parish, La.

Sempra Energy based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2004 revenues of $9.4 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 13,000 employees serve more than 29 million consumers in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, South America and Asia.

This press release contains statements that are not historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When the company uses words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "may," "would," "should" or similar expressions, or when the company discusses its strategy or plans, the company is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including, among others: local, regional, national and international economic, competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments; actions by the California Public Utilities Commission, the California State Legislature, the California Department of Water Resources, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other regulatory bodies in the United States and other countries; capital markets conditions, inflation rates, interest rates and exchange rates; energy and trading markets, including the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices; the availability of natural gas; weather conditions and conservation efforts; war and terrorist attacks; business, regulatory, environmental, and legal decisions and requirements; the status of deregulation of retail natural gas and electricity delivery; the timing and success of business development efforts; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the company. These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that are available through the EDGAR system without charge at its Web site, www.sec.gov and on the company's Web site, www.sempra.com.

Sempra Pipelines & Storage is not the same companies as the utilities, SDG&E or SoCalGas, and is not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.



            

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