August 23, 2002

New Orleans, La. -- Dominion Exploration & Production, Inc., a subsidiary of Dominion (NYSE: D), with its partner, Nexen Petroleum Offshore U.S.A. Inc. (NYSE: NXY), was the apparent successful high bidder on two Deepwater blocks at the Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 184, held in New Orleans. The two blocks, Garden Banks 293 and 337 comprise the Gold Rush Prospect. Dominion E&P will have a 75% percent working interest in these blocks. Nexen will have the remaining 25% working interest. Dominion E&P's share of bids totaled $7.1 million.

Duane Radtke, president and CEO of Dominion E&P, remarked, "We are very pleased to have been the successful bidder on the Gold Rush Prospect. This is an excellent addition to our Deepwater inventory and could be drilled as early as 2003."

As is customary, the Minerals Management Services of the U. S. Department of Interior will review the high bids before deciding to award them.

Dominion has a diversified and integrated energy portfolio consisting of nearly 24,000-megawatts of generation, 5.1 trillion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas reserves, 7,600 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline and the nation's largest underground natural gas storage system with more than 950 billion cubic feet of storage capacity. Dominion also serves 3.9 million franchise natural gas and electric customers in five states and nearly one million unregulated retail customers in eight states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's web site at www.dom.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. The company wishes to caution readers that the assumptions which form the basis for forward-looking statements with respect to or that may impact earnings for fiscal 2002, and thereafter, include many factors that are beyond the company's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as estimates of future market conditions and the behavior of other market participants. Other factors include, but are not limited to, weather conditions, economic conditions in the company's service territories, fluctuations in energy-related commodity prices, conversion activity, other marketing efforts and other uncertainties.
 

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