GREAT FALLS, Mont., April 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Gas Natural Inc. (NYSE Amex: EGAS) (the “Company”), a natural gas utility company serving approximately 63,500 customers in six states, today announced the acquisition of pipeline assets from Marathon Petroleum Company, LP, by its subsidiary, Spelman Pipeline Holdings, LLC (an Ohio Limited Liability Company).

The assets include pipelines and rights-of-way located in Ohio and Kentucky.  In Ohio, the assets include more than 140 miles of pipeline spanning almost a third of the state from Marion to Youngstown.  Other Ohio assets are located in metropolitan and south suburban Cleveland.  The Kentucky assets include over 60 miles of right-of-way in the Louisville area and points south.  The pipelines were formerly used to transport refined petroleum products and crude oil.

Spelman intends to convert the Ohio pipelines to transport natural gas to new markets where natural gas service is not currently available as well as to link it to markets served by its Ohio affiliates.  Future plans include extending the lines to participate in the Utica and Marcellus Shale plays.  Plans for the Kentucky assets are uncertain.  

Richard M. Osborne, Sr., Gas Natural’s Chairman, stated, “This acquisition presents a tremendous expansion opportunity for the Company in Ohio while bringing clean, economical natural gas service to Ohio residents and businesses where natural gas is not currently available.”

About Gas Natural Inc.

Gas Natural Inc. distributes and sells natural gas to end-use residential, commercial, and industrial customers.  It distributes approximately 30 billion cubic feet of natural gas to approximately 63,500 customers through regulated utilities operating in Montana, Wyoming, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maine and North Carolina.  The Company markets approximately 1.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas to commercial and industrial customers in Montana and Wyoming on an unregulated basis.  The Company also has ownership interests in 160 natural gas producing wells and gas gathering assets. In addition, the Company owns the Shoshone interstate and the Glacier gathering pipelines located in Montana and Wyoming.  The Company’s Montana public utility was originally incorporated in 1909 and is headquartered in Great Falls, Montana.

The Company’s toll-free number is 800-570-5688.  The Company’s address is 1 First Avenue South, Great Falls, Montana 59401 and its website is www.ewst.com.

Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The Company is including the following cautionary statement in this release to make applicable and to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, Gas Natural Inc. Forward-looking statements are all statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, those that are identified by the use of the words “anticipates,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “believes” and similar expressions. Such statements are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed. Factors that may affect forward-looking statements and the Company’s business generally include but are not limited to the Company’s ability to successfully integrate the operations of the companies it has recently acquired and consummate additional acquisitions, the Company’s continued ability to make dividend payments, the Company’s ability to implement its business plan, fluctuating energy commodity prices, the possibility that regulators may not permit the Company to pass through all of its increased costs to its customers, changes in the utility regulatory environment, wholesale and retail competition, the Company’s ability to satisfy its debt obligations, including compliance with financial covenants, weather conditions, litigation risks, and various other matters, many of which are beyond the Company’s control, the risk factors and cautionary statements made in the Company’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other factors that the Company is currently unable to identify or quantify, but may exist in the future. Gas Natural Inc. expressly undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Gas Natural Inc.’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

For more information contact:
Bronwyn Davis
8500 Station Street
Mentor, OH 44060
440-346-1824
Bdavis@orwellgas.com

SOURCE Gas Natural Inc.