CenterPoint Energy Field Services Proposes New Gathering System in Mississippi Lime Area

HOUSTON, Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CenterPoint Energy Field Services, LLC (CEFS), an indirect, wholly-owned natural gas gathering and treating subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP), announced today that it has begun initial routing activities for a proposed gas gathering and processing system in the heart of the Mississippi Lime area of north central Oklahoma and south central Kansas. The proposed White Eagle Gathering System would include up to 300 miles of high-pressure gas gathering lines and up to 200 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity with amine treating and nitrogen removal, depending on customer requirements.  

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The proposed system would interconnect to intrastate and interstate markets with  natural gas liquids deliveries to the Medford Hub in Grant Co., Okla. Additional ancillary gathering and transportation services, such as low pressure service at producer interconnects, a crude oil pipeline with interim trucking options or electric service for submersible pumps, could also be provided.

"The White Eagle Gathering System would provide critical take-away capacity for the growing natural gas, NGL and crude oil production in the Mississippi Lime formation," said Bill May, senior vice president and chief commercial officer of CEFS. "This project would further solidify CEFS's position as one of Oklahoma's premier midstream companies and one of the largest independent midstream service providers in the shale plays of the mid-continent region."

The proposed project is scalable and the level of capital investment will depend on producer interest. Contingent on ultimate customer commitments, portions of the system could be operational later this year or early next year. 

For more information contact Robert Redding, vice president of Marketing and Business Development at (918) 382-5102, or Tony Bouso, director of Marketing and Business Development at (318) 429-2825.

CEFS owns and operates approximately 3,900 miles of gathering pipelines and processing plants that collect, treat and process approximately 2.6 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas from approximately 150 separate systems located in major producing fields in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. 

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a domestic energy delivery company that includes electric transmission & distribution, natural gas distribution, competitive natural gas sales and services, interstate pipelines, and field services operations. The company serves more than five million metered customers primarily in Arkansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas. Assets total nearly $21 billion. With about 8,800 employees, CenterPoint Energy and its predecessor companies have been in business for more than 135 years. For more information, visit the Web site at www.CenterPointEnergy.com.

This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.  The statements in this news release regarding the expected scope and timing for completion of the proposed system and any other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements.  Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release speaks only as of the date of this release.  Factors that could affect actual results include the financial performance and other factors discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010, and Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2011, June 30, 2011, and September 30, 2011, and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

For more information contact
Media:
Leticia Lowe
Phone      713.207.7702
Investors:
Marianne Paulsen
Phone    713.207.6500

SOURCE CenterPoint Energy, Inc.