Cleco Corporation
2030 Donahue Ferry Road
P O Box 5000
Pinville, LA 71361-5000
Tel. 318 484-7400
For additional information contact:
Cleco Corporation
Rodney J. Hamilton
(318) 484-7593
Michael P. Prudhomme
(318) 484-7649
CLECO ENERGY ACQUIRES SABINE TEXICAN PIPELINE COMPANY
HOUSTON, TX., July 28, 1998 -- Cleco Energy LLC, a joint partnership between Louisiana based Cleco Corporation and Houston based Covenant Energy Corporation today announced it has purchased Sabine Texican Pipeline Company of Lufkin, Texas, an energy company engaged in the exploration, production, gathering, marketing, transportation and distribution of natural gas. Sabine owns 415 miles of gathering and transmission pipelines in Texas and Louisiana, as well as oil and gas producing properties in West Texas. Sabine's natural gas distribution systems are located west of Lufkin and south of San Antonio, Texas.
"Cleco Energy's acquisition of Sabine is an excellent fit with Cleco Corporation's strategy to become an energy services company that produces, procures and transports energy," said Greg Nesbitt, president and CEO of Cleco Corporation. "Deregulation of the electric utility industry will usher in many changes, one of the biggest of which is the emergence of an energy services market that encompasses both natural gas and electric power. It's about meeting the customer's total energy needs. That's why wer e excited about Cleco Energy and the opportunities it brings us to grow through projects like the acquisition of Sabine."
"This sale affords Sabine the opportunity to become part of an integrated energy group. This translates into growth opportunities that would not be available to Sabine alone," said Danny Vines, Sabine president. Vines will join Cleco Energy's managemen t team as executive vice president of operations.
Houston-based Cleco Energy LLC is an energy services company that markets natural gas, provides energy management services for industrial and large end-use customers and engages in the acquisition and development of energy assets. Cleco Corporation, he adquartered in Pineville, Louisiana, generates, transmits, distributes and sells electric power, serving 238,000 electric customers in Louisiana, as well as provides related energy services in the southern United States.
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