NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) Jan. 31, 2003--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said it lowered its corporate credit ratings on Duke Energy Corp., Duke Capital Corp., Westcoast Energy Inc., Union Gas Ltd., and other related subsidiaries to 'A-' from 'A'. The corporate credit rating for Duke Energy Trading and Marketing LLC was lowered to 'BBB' from 'BBB+'. All outlooks remain negative. Duke Energy Field Services LLC's rating was affirmed at BBB/Stable/--. Ratings on debt issues were also lowered. Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy had $22.5 billion of consolidated debt outstanding at year-end 2002. "This rating action reflects Standard&Poor's determination that reductions in capital expenditures and planned asset divestitures will not be sufficient to provide the funds to pay
