El Paso reported that its domestic reserve replacement costs, before reserve revisions due to price, improved to $1.57 per Mcfe. In addition, its proved natural gas and oil reserves at December 31, 2009 totaled 2.75 Tcfe, including 201 Bcfe related to its 48.8 percent interest in Four Star.

"El Paso's improved reserve replacement metrics and growth in proved reserves reflect the repositioning of our portfolio, and the increased capital efficiency of our drilling programs," said Doug Foshee, chairman, president and chief executive officer of El Paso Corporation. "I want to congratulate our E&P team. We are now seeing the fruits of a multi-year continuous improvement effort."

Approximately 31 percent of the December 31, 2009 proved reserves are proved undeveloped, and 84 percent are natural gas. While the SEC's rules for booking proved reserves changed for 2009, the impact to El Paso was minimal, beyond the change to a new standard using 12-month average pricing.

El Paso E&P's 2009 capital expenditures were approximately $1.1 billion, which includes approximately $92 million for the acquisition of producing properties completed in late December and approximately $240 million for international expenditures.

Tags: El Paso Corporation