Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. To Acquire Plains Exploration & Production Company And McMoRan Exploration Co. In Transactions Totaling $20 Billion, Creating A Premier U.S. Based Natural Resource Company

James R. Moffett, Chairman of the Board of FCX, said: “FCX has been built through our exploration and development capabilities, and this transaction will enable us to add assets with exceptional exploration and development potential to a world-class mining company to create a premier minerals and oil and gas business focused on value creation for shareholders. The transaction offers significant values to the MMR and PXP shareholders and will enable FCX to build on these values through a much larger, well capitalized platform. We are pleased to add the PXP and MMR oil and gas teams to FCX’s global family. The combined mining and oil and gas teams have significant management depth in operations, technical innovation, project development and financial management, and share a strong commitment to safety, community development and environmental management.”

Richard C. Adkerson, FCX’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The transaction will add a high quality portfolio of assets with strong current cash flows, significant growth options and complementary exposure to markets positioned for global growth in the developed and developing world and reflects our positive view of the factors that will drive demand for copper and other commodities. The oil and gas assets being acquired possess the asset quality characteristics that we seek in our mining business - large scale assets with long lives, low cost and geologic potential to support growth through exploration and development. We anticipate that attractive debt financing markets and our strong balance sheet will allow us to finance a significant portion of the transaction using low cost debt and enable FCX shareholders to retain the significant value we see in our existing asset base, while enhancing future value generation opportunities. We will not diminish our focus in our mining operations on safe and efficient production, executing our organic growth projects, prudent capital allocation and an entrepreneurial spirit of creating values for our shareholders.”

James C. Flores, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PXP, said: “I am proud of the accomplishments of our team who have built a strong company and created the opportunity for our shareholders to participate in this exciting transaction. I believe that the addition of PXP’s U.S. oil and gas assets to FCX’s global mining business will establish a very significant, long-term commodities business positioned to generate meaningful returns over an extended period. We look forward to becoming part of FCX’s global team and to the contributions of the PXP assets to the combined company, which we expect will provide strong margins and meaningful reserve additions in the years to come.”

TERMS OF THE TRANSACTIONS

The terms of the transactions were negotiated by and recommended to the board of directors of each of FCX and MMR by separate special committees of independent directors. The transactions are expected to close in the second quarter of 2013.

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