The Houston-based company said it will liquidate contracts worth around $US970 million within two years in order to conserve cash as it battle a loss of industry confidence brought about by the Enron collapse.
It has not been a great year for El Paso with its stock price plunging 79 per cent, its credit rating being cut to the lowest investment grade by Moody's and accusations by US regulators that it was partly to blame for the California power crisis.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has been investigating El Paso and a group of other companies suspected of exacerbating the electricity shortages which triggered rolling blackouts in California from mid-2000 through 2001.
In Australia, El Paso has a 33% stake in gas transmission company Epic Energy, which in August won its battle against the West Australian gas access regulator over transmission prices for the Dampier-to-Bunbury gas pipeline.
