Disposal of Equity Gas Interest

Centrica PLC
                  

August 30, 2005

Centrica disposes of equity gas interest in Hewett offshore assets

Centrica plc today announced it has reached agreement with Petrofac Resources to
dispose of its entire 23.15 per cent interest in the Hewett gas field and
associated transportation and processing infrastructure in the Southern North
Sea.

Under the agreement, Centrica will make a cash payment of £4 million to
Petrofac, with Petrofac acquiring 65 million therms of gas and assuming full
abandonment costs for the field, which has been in production since 1969. The
agreement is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Centrica will continue to purchase gas from the Hewett field under the existing
contract terms, with output for the remainder of 2005 purchased at a fixed
price.

Sir Roy Gardner, Chief Executive of Centrica, said: 'This agreement enables us
to dispose of our interest, pre-abandonment, in an asset where we see no
incremental strategic value to Centrica, while realising strong returns from our
original acquisition cost.

'As part of our ongoing portfolio management, we expect to consider similar
opportunities to rationalise or make best use of our equity assets.'

Enquiries:

Centrica Investor Relations:        01753 494900
Centrica Media Relations:           01753 494085