Feasibility Study for Tauern Gas Pipeline Nears Completion; Project to Continue With Environmental Impact Assessment

Application to Austrian Regulatory Authority for Exemption Decision Temporarily Withdrawn and TGL Open Season 2009 Terminated

VIENNA, Austria, March 16, 2010 - The feasibility study for the Tauern Gas Pipeline (TGL) project is now
nearing completion. It has been shown that it will be technically feasible to
construct the TGL project across the Alps. Almost 90 percent of the easements
and servitudes required have already been secured by mutual agreement with
the landowners concerned. The project partners have now decided to continue
the TGL project, focussing on the environmental impact assessment. The
exemption application under Section 20a of the Austrian Gas Act
(Gaswirtschaftsgesetz) (Section 22 Directive 2003/55/EC) submitted to the
Austrian regulatory authority, the Energie-Control Kommission, in June last
year has now been temporarily withdrawn. It is necessary to wait until the
3rd EU Energy Package which has now come into force has been implemented in
Austrian law as a statutory basis for the exemption decision.

The Tauern Gas Pipeline (TGL) project is to connect Austria, in the
North, with the German natural gas market and, in the South, with the
Mediterranean region and natural gas markets in Italy and South-East Europe.
The feasibility study supported by the EU for the TGL project, which has been
recognized as part of the Trans-European Energy Networks (TEN-E), is to be
completed in the near future. It has been shown that it will be technically
feasible to construct the TGL project along the planned route across the
Austrian Alps. The project partners have now decided to conduct the
environmental impact assessment procedure. "In cooperation with environmental
experts from 34 disciplines, the environmental compatibility declaration for
the TGL project is now being prepared. It is planned to submit the
declaration to the authorities for the environmental impact assessment at the
end of this year," Thomas Kettl, Managing Director of Tauerngasleitung GmbH,
explains. Work on the development of connections to the Tauern Gas Pipeline
project in Bavaria and Italy also continues.

In the course of the feasibility study, all the landowners and
communities affected received comprehensive information on the TGL project
and the planned route on several occasions. Option contracts for about 90
percent of the easements and servitudes required for the TGL route in Upper
Austria, Salzburg and Carinthia have now been concluded by mutual agreement
with the landowners concerned. A further 5 to 6 percent of the TGL route is
located on land which is in public ownership. Tauerngasleitung GmbH expects
that it will be possible to conclude the necessary permit contracts with the
authorities and public bodies affected. "We are very satisfied with the
results obtained to date in negotiations for easements and servitudes," says
Thomas Kettl, adding: "As regards the remaining easement and servitude
options in the private sector, we still aim to reach agreement with the
landowners through personal dialogue on the basis of possible route
optimization, where this is technically feasible and economically viable,
before filing for the environmental impact assessment."

The "TGL Open Season 2009" for the allocation of long-term transportation
capacities on the Tauern Gas Pipeline was launched in June last year. The
information and commitment phases of the three-stage procedure have been
completed. Ten participants from Italy, Germany, France and Austria submitted
binding requests for transportation capacities in the northerly and southerly
directions for a duration of 25 years. Thomas Kettl, Managing Director of
Tauerngasleitung GmbH, is optimistic about the result: "From TGL's point of
view it is pleasing that, even at a time of financial and economic crisis,
initial capacity requests for a period of 25 years have been received. The
TGL Open Season 2009 is being terminated; another capacity allocation
procedure is planned at a later date."

To ensure secure long-term conditions for the project partners and
transportation customers, it is necessary to wait until the 3rd EU Energy
Package which has now come into force has been implemented in Austrian law as
a statutory basis for the exemption decision. Tauerngasleitung GmbH has
therefore temporarily withdrawn the exemption application submitted to the
Energie-Control Kommission under Section 20a of the Austrian Gas Act
(Gaswirtschaftsgesetz) (Section 22 Directive 2003/55/EC). Clarifications are
required, especially concerning the provisions relating to ownership
unbundling and the introduction of an entry/exit tariff system for natural
gas transmission pipelines.

The Tauern Gas Pipeline project will lead to a long-term improvement in
supply security in Austria and Europe and promote more competition thanks to
greater diversification of gas purchasing sources.

You will find further information on the Tauern Gas Pipeline project and
the TGL Open Season 2009 at www.tauerngasleitung.at.

About the project

The Tauern Gas Pipeline (TGL) project permits the continuous
transportation of gas over a distance of 290 km from Haiming in Bavaria
through Austria to Tarvis in Italy and will enhance supply security in
Austria and Europe. The Tauern Gas Pipeline will have a total transportation
capacity of 1,300,000 Nm cubed/h in both the northerly and southerly
direction. The TGL project is backed by a predominantly Austrian consortium.
The stakes in Tauerngasleitung GmbH are held by Energie AG Oberösterreich
(15%), Kelag (7.5%), RAG (10%), Salzburg AG (15%) and TIGAS-Erdgas Tirol GmbH
(7.5%). E.ON Ruhrgas AG, one of Europe's leading gas suppliers, holds 45%.
The feasibility study nears completion. If the results of the environmental
impact assessment and capacity allocation are positive, construction of the
pipeline is scheduled to begin in 2013. Completion and commissioning are
planned from 2017 onwards.

    Further information:
    TGL-Medienkoordination:
    Maria Wedenig
    c/o ikp GmbH
    +43(0)1-524-77-90-16
    maria.wedenig@ikp.at

Further information: TGL-Medienkoordination, Maria Wedenig, c/o ikp GmbH, +43(0)1-524-77-90-16, maria.wedenig at ikp.at