NEWS RELEASE
                                              For Further Information Contact:
                                              Greg D. Kerley
                                              Executive Vice President
                                               and Chief Financial Officer
                                              (501) 521-1141



           SOUTHWESTERN ENERGY RESPONDS TO LAWSUIT FILED IN SEBASTIAN
                              COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT

         Fayetteville,  Arkansas --  September  11,  2000...Southwestern  Energy
(NYSE:SWN) today responded to a class action lawsuit that has been filed against
the Company in state  court in  Sebastian  County,  Arkansas.  The suit  alleges
royalty and mineral  rights owners are owed damages as a result of the Company's
operation of an  underground  natural gas storage  facility in Franklin  County,
Arkansas.
         Southwestern  Energy believes that the Plaintiffs'  allegations in this
suit are not supported by the facts or the law and that the Company's subsidiary
acted in accordance  with the guidelines of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission.
Specifically,  the Arkansas Oil and Gas  Commission has authorized the Company's
subsidiaries to use the gas storage  facility.  That authority was granted after
proper  notice and full public  hearings in 1968,  and the  facility has been in
continuous use for more than 30 years. Written agreements were obtained from the
property owners,  and those owners have been  continuously paid compensation for
the right to gas storage at the Stockton Gas Storage Unit.
         In 1997, as a result of additional  geologic and engineering  data from
drilling in the area, the Arkansas Oil and Gas  Commission,  after proper notice
and a full  hearing,  expanded the area limits of the Stockton Gas Storage Unit.
In it's 1997  Order,  and  certification,  the  Commission  again found that the
facility  was  suitable for the storage of gas and that it's use for gas storage
was in the public's interest.
         "Contrary to the Plaintiffs' allegations,  this suit is not related to,
or  analogous  to, the recent  Hales suit.  The Company  denies the  Plaintiffs'
allegation  that they are entitled to  ownership  rights to the natural gas that
the  Company  has  injected  into the storage  facility,"  said  Harold  Korell,
president and chief executive officer, Southwestern Energy.

                                     -MORE-


         As a  result  of  negotiations  with  property  owners,  the  Company's
subsidiary  has  obtained  the storage  rights  from a majority of the  property
owners in the expanded  portion of the storage  unit.  Prior to the  Plaintiffs'
filing of this lawsuit,  the Company's subsidiary had been actively pursuing the
acquisition of agreements with all remaining property owners. However, until the
Court can determine  whether to allow this lawsuit to proceed as a class action,
the Company has stopped further negotiations with the remaining property owners.
Consequently,   the  Company  will  begin  condemnation   proceedings,   as  are
specifically  allowed  under  Arkansas  law, to allow the Court to determine the
fair value of the remaining property owners' gas storage rights.
          "We have been  working for a number of months with  affected  property
owners  to  provide  fair  compensation  for the use of their  property  for gas
storage. Because of their significantly divergent interests, we believe that the
Court will deny class action certification of this lawsuit," said Mr. Korell.
         The Company believes that its ultimate  liability,  if any, will not be
material to its consolidated financial position or results of operations.
         Southwestern   Energy  is  an  integrated  natural  gas  company  whose
wholly-owned subsidiaries are engaged in oil and gas exploration and production,
natural gas gathering,  transmission and marketing and natural gas distribution.
Additional  information  about  the  Company  can be  found on the  Internet  at
http://www.swn.com.
         All statements,  other than historical financial information,  included
in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking  statements within the
meaning of the Securities  Litigation  Reform Act. These statements  reflect the
Company's  current  views with  respect to future  events  and  performance  and
involve risks and  uncertainties  that are detailed in the Company's  Securities
and Exchange Commission filings.  These risks would include, but are not limited
to, the timing and extent of the Company's  success in discovering,  developing,
producing and  estimating  oil and natural gas reserves,  the effects of weather
and regulation on the Company's gas distribution segment, and the value that the
Company's gas  distribution  segment may bring in exploring sales  opportunities
for this  segment.  Although  these  statements  are made in good  faith and the
Company believes they are reasonable  representations  of the Company's expected
performance at this time, the Company's actual  financial and operating  results
could differ  materially from those projected as a result of certain factors.  A
discussion of those factors is included in the Company's  periodic reports filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission  including its Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999.

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