Sonat

Sonat, Inc.

Type	Corporation
Industry	Energy
Fate	Merged
Successor	El Paso Corporation
Founded	1928 as Southern Natural Gas Company
Headquarters	AmSouth-Sonat Tower Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Key people	Ronald L. Kuehn, Jr., Chief Executive Officer and President
Products	Natural Gas Transmission and Exploration
Revenue	$4.17 billion (1998)
Number of employees	2,107 (1998)

Sonat, Inc., headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, was a large Fortune 500 American energy holding company. The company was founded in 1928 and was listed on the under the ticker symbol "SNT". Sonat was primarily involved in transmission and marketing natural gas and oil and gas exploration and production. The company was also involved in contract offshore drilling until 1995 when the offshore business became Transocean. In 1999 Sonat merged with El Paso Corporation. The company was headquartered in the AmSouth-Sonat Tower in downtown Birmingham.

Sonat was founded in Birmingham, Alabama, as Southern Natural Gas Corporation in 1928. In 1953, the company spun off its natural gas utility division, forming Birmingham-based Alabama Gas Corporation. During the 1960s, the company changed its name to Southern Natural Resources, Inc. In 1968, the company expanded into forestry by creating Southern Forest Products, Inc.

In 1972, the company moved into its new 30-story corporate headquarters in downtown Birmingham. The building, called the First National-Southern Natural Building and later the AmSouth-Sonat Tower, was equally owned by and occupied with First National Bank of Birmingham. In 1973, the company changed its name again to Southern Natural Industries, Inc. The company, which was quickly expanding, acquired The Offshore Company in 1978 and soon changed the name to Sonat Offshore.

By the 1980s, Southern Natural had diversified into many different industries. In 1982, the company decided to change its name to Sonat, Inc., to create a better known identity in the energy industry. During this time, the company, which had 1981 revenues of $2.4 billion, was ranked as one of the largest companies in the U.S. The company was also ranked as the largest pipeline producer by Forbes. On March 27, 1986, the company expanded its pipeline division by acquiring 50% of Citrus Corporation, which owned Florida Gas Transmission, for $360 million in cash. Later the next year Sonat Marketing was formed to market and sell natural gas. By the end of the 1980s, the company was a leader in natural gas pipeline distribution, exploration and production, and offshore drilling.