Acquisition

Centrica PLC
14 November 2002

14 November 2002



Centrica secures Rough storage facility

Centrica plc, through a wholly owned subsidiary, has acquired Dynegy Storage
Limited (DSL) and Dynegy Onshore Processing UK Limited (DOPUL), subsidiaries of
Dynegy Inc., for a net cash consideration of £304 million plus £11.8m in respect
of net working capital (comprising cash of £15.9m and net current liabilities of
£4.1m).

DSL and DOPUL own the Rough offshore gas storage facility and the associated
pipeline and onshore processing facility at Easington, Yorkshire ('Rough'). The
Rough asset is the largest gas storage facility in the UK, with a capacity for
holding approximately 100 billion cubic feet (bcf) of stored gas and has a
deliverability rate of 1.5 bcf per day.

Centrica intends to continue sourcing a significant proportion of its gas
requirements from fields in which it owns equity interests, and the Rough
facility will preserve Centrica's flexibility to meet fluctuating demand and
allow it to maximise the value of its diverse gas portfolio.





The majority of this storage will continue to be sold to other gas market
participants. As the supply of UK produced gas reduces and the UK becomes more
reliant on imported gas, the facility will continue to provide users with the
seasonal storage capacity so that summer produced gas can be used to meet peak
winter demand. In this context, through the sale of storage capacity to third
parties, the Rough facility is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first
year.

The business has net assets (based upon an unaudited balance sheet) of £354.7
million at 30 September, 2002. Unaudited profits before tax attributable to
Rough in the nine months to 30 September, 2002, were £18.6 million, excluding
one-off severance payments and asset write-offs of £10.9 million.

Sir Roy Gardner, Chief Executive of Centrica, said: 'The acquisition of this
asset is of strategic importance to Centrica, providing us with flexibility to
meet the fluctuating gas requirements of our retail customers. We also see
potential for value creation through improved management of the commercial and
operational arrangements of the facility for our storage customers.'

Enquiries:

Centrica Investor Relations:      01753 494900

Centrica Media Relations:          01753 494085


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