May 19, 2006

NEW ORLEANS – Dominion Exploration & Production, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dominion (NYSE: D), announced Friday a natural gas discovery on the Gulf of Mexico Shelf at the West Cameron 130 field. The field is located in 40 feet of water approximately 250 miles southwest of New Orleans.

"We are encouraged by this latest discovery in what continues to be the core area for our Gulf of Mexico Shelf program," said Kevin P. Guilbeau, senior vice president and general manager for Dominion E&P’s offshore unit. "The new discovery is deeper than our existing production in the field. These deeper sands will be more fully appraised by continued drilling in this field and on other leases currently in our shelf inventory."

An exploratory well, the West Cameron 130 #3 reached a depth of 19,365 feet and encountered approximately 250 feet of net pay in multiple zones. Following completion operations, the well was tested at a restricted rate of 11.8 million cubic feet per day and 40 barrels of oil per day. Construction operations are under way to tie back production through Dominion E&P’s West Cameron 130 'B' platform.

Dominion E&P owns a 50 percent working interest and is the operator of West Cameron 130 #3. Hydro Gulf of Mexico LLC owns 35 percent and Mariner Energy Inc. owns 15 percent.

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with an energy portfolio of about 28,100 megawatts of generation, about 6.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves and 7,800 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. Dominion also operates the nation's largest underground natural gas storage system with more than 950 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves retail energy customers in nine states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.

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