Central Valley Gas Storage, L.L.C. Breaks Ground on New Natural Gas Storage Facility

Central Valley Gas Storage, L.L.C. ("Central Valley”), a subsidiary of Nicor Inc. (NYSE: GAS), has begun the construction phase of its planned natural gas storage facilities located in Colusa County California.

"We are excited to begin the first phase of construction on our new natural gas storage facility,” said Steve Cittadine, President of Central Valley. "We believe this project provides benefits to the local economy as more than 300 jobs will be brought to the area during construction. We would also like to thank the community for all of the support we have received to get the project to this point.”

The Central Valley natural gas storage project is a high deliverability depleted reservoir that will provide multi-turn services tailored to customers’ requirements.

This project is expected to be completed by year-end. Construction activities include installing compressor units and constructing approximately 15 miles of 24-inch pipeline connecting the storage field to PG&E’s transmission system. Once completed, the facility will have a storage capacity of 11.0 BCF and an injection and withdrawal capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet per day, according to the publicly filed information.

For additional information on Central Valley Gas Storage project, parties are encouraged to contact John Fortman at (630) 245-7845 or jfortma@nicor.com and Oscar Towne at (630) 245-7814 or otowne@nicor.com. Information can also be obtained by visiting the website, www.cvgasstorage.com.

Central Valley Gas Storage, L.L.C. is a subsidiary of Nicor Inc. with offices in Lisle, Illinois, specializing in gas storage services serving the California markets. For more information, visit the Central Valley Gas Storage website at www.cvgasstorage.com.

Nicor Inc. (NYSE: GAS) is a holding company and is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Its primary business is Nicor Gas, one of the nation’s largest natural gas distribution companies. Nicor owns Tropical Shipping, a containerized shipping business serving the Caribbean region and the Bahamas. In addition, the company owns and has an equity interest in several energy-related businesses. For more information, visit the Nicor website at www.nicor.com.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This document includes certain forward-looking statements about the expectations of Nicor and its subsidiaries and affiliates. Although Nicor believes these statements are based on reasonable assumptions, actual results may vary materially from stated expectations. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "anticipate,” "believe,” "expect,” "intend,” "may,” "planned,” "potential,” "should,” "will,” "would,” "project,” "estimate,” "ultimate,” or similar phrases. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding timing, capacity and benefits of the proposed project. While we believe our expectations are reasonable in view of the currently available information, our expectations are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties, and there are several factors - many beyond our control - that could cause results to differ significantly from our expectations.

Such events, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in price, supply and demand for natural gas and related products; the impact of changes in state and federal legislation and regulation; actions taken by government agencies on rates and other matters; the inability of the company to obtain regulatory and other approvals necessary to complete the proposed project, resulting in a delay in project completion, or in the imposition of conditions that could have a material adverse effect on Nicor or the project or cause the Nicor to abandon the project; actions by competitors, suppliers, customers or others that might result in a delay in project completion or abandonment of the project; concentration of credit risk; utility and energy industry consolidation; impact of acquisitions and divestitures; direct or indirect effects on the company’s business, financial condition or liquidity resulting from a change in our credit ratings or the credit ratings of our counterparties or competitors; interest rate fluctuations; financial market conditions and general economic conditions; uncertainties about environmental issues and the related impact of such issues; the impact of changes in weather upon the temperature-sensitive portions of the business; impacts of natural disasters upon the supply and price of natural gas; acts of war or terrorism; the timing and success of business development efforts; and other factors which are provided in detail in Nicor’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we incorporate by reference in this press release. Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements to reflect subsequent changes.