<PAGE>
 
                                 TENNECO INC.
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
  The undersigned, in his capacity as a Director of Tenneco Inc., does hereby
appoint Theodore R. Tetzlaff and Karl A. Stewart, and each of them, severally,
his true and lawful attorneys, or attorney, to execute in his name, place and
stead, in his capacity as a Director of said Company, a Registration Statement
on Form S-3 for the registration of an issue of not more than $275,000,000
aggregate principal amount of Junior Preferred Stock of Tenneco Inc. and any
and all amendments and post-effective amendments to said Registration
Statement, and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection
therewith, and to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each of said attorneys shall have the power to act hereunder with or without
the other of said attorneys and shall have full power and authority to do and
perform, in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in any and all
capacities, every act whatsoever requisite or necessary to be done in the
premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do in person, the undersigned hereby ratifying and approving the acts of
said attorneys and each of them.
 
  IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this instrument this 8th
day of October, A.D. 1996.
 
                                                  /s/ Mark Andrews
                                          -------------------------------------
                                                      Mark Andrews
<PAGE>
 
                                 TENNECO INC.
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
  The undersigned, in his capacity as a Director of Tenneco Inc., does hereby
appoint Theodore R. Tetzlaff and Karl A. Stewart, and each of them, severally,
his true and lawful attorneys, or attorney, to execute in his name, place and
stead, in his capacity as a Director of said Company, a Registration Statement
on Form S-3 for the registration of an issue of not more than $275,000,000
aggregate principal amount of Junior Preferred Stock of Tenneco Inc. and any
and all amendments and post-effective amendments to said Registration
Statement, and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection
therewith, and to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each of said attorneys shall have the power to act hereunder with or without
the other of said attorneys and shall have full power and authority to do and
perform, in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in any and all
capacities, every act whatsoever requisite or necessary to be done in the
premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do in person, the undersigned hereby ratifying and approving the acts of
said attorneys and each of them.
 
  IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this instrument this 8th
day of October, A.D. 1996.
 
                                              /s/ W. Michael Blumenthal
                                          -------------------------------------
                                                  W. Michael Blumenthal
<PAGE>
 
                                 TENNECO INC.
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
  The undersigned, in his capacity as a Director of Tenneco Inc., does hereby
appoint Theodore R. Tetzlaff and Karl A. Stewart, and each of them, severally,
his true and lawful attorneys, or attorney, to execute in his name, place and
stead, in his capacity as a Director of said Company, a Registration Statement
on Form S-3 for the registration of an issue of not more than $275,000,000
aggregate principal amount of Junior Preferred Stock of Tenneco Inc. and any
and all amendments and post-effective amendments to said Registration
Statement, and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection
therewith, and to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each of said attorneys shall have the power to act hereunder with or without
the other of said attorneys and shall have full power and authority to do and
perform, in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in any and all
capacities, every act whatsoever requisite or necessary to be done in the
premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do in person, the undersigned hereby ratifying and approving the acts of
said attorneys and each of them.
 
  IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this instrument this 8th
day of October, A.D. 1996.
 
                                                /s/ Belton K. Johnson
                                          -------------------------------------
                                                    Belton K. Johnson
<PAGE>
 
                                 TENNECO INC.
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
  The undersigned, in his capacity as a Director of Tenneco Inc., does hereby
appoint Theodore R. Tetzlaff and Karl A. Stewart, and each of them, severally,
his true and lawful attorneys, or attorney, to execute in his name, place and
stead, in his capacity as a Director of said Company, a Registration Statement
on Form S-3 for the registration of an issue of not more than $275,000,000
aggregate principal amount of Junior Preferred Stock of Tenneco Inc. and any
and all amendments and post-effective amendments to said Registration
Statement, and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection
therewith, and to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each of said attorneys shall have the power to act hereunder with or without
the other of said attorneys and shall have full power and authority to do and
perform, in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in any and all
capacities, every act whatsoever requisite or necessary to be done in the
premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do in person, the undersigned hereby ratifying and approving the acts of
said attorneys and each of them.
 
  IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this instrument this 8th
day of October, A.D. 1996.
 
                                                /s/ William L. Weiss
                                          -------------------------------------
                                                    William L. Weiss
<PAGE>
 
                                 TENNECO INC.
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
  The undersigned, in his capacity as a Director of Tenneco Inc., does hereby
appoint Theodore R. Tetzlaff and Karl A. Stewart, and each of them, severally,
his true and lawful attorneys, or attorney, to execute in his name, place and
stead, in his capacity as a Director of said Company, a Registration Statement
on Form S-3 for the registration of an issue of not more than $275,000,000
aggregate principal amount of Junior Preferred Stock of Tenneco Inc. and any
and all amendments and post-effective amendments to said Registration
Statement, and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection
therewith, and to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each of said attorneys shall have the power to act hereunder with or without
the other of said attorneys and shall have full power and authority to do and
perform, in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in any and all
capacities, every act whatsoever requisite or necessary to be done in the
premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do in person, the undersigned hereby ratifying and approving the acts of
said attorneys and each of them.
 
  IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this instrument this 8th
day of October, A.D. 1996.
 
                                               /s/ M. Kathryn Eickhoff
                                          -------------------------------------
                                                   M. Kathryn Eickhoff
<PAGE>
 
                                 TENNECO INC.
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
  The undersigned, in his capacity as a Director of Tenneco Inc., does hereby
appoint Theodore R. Tetzlaff and Karl A. Stewart, and each of them, severally,
his true and lawful attorneys, or attorney, to execute in his name, place and
stead, in his capacity as a Director of said Company, a Registration Statement
on Form S-3 for the registration of an issue of not more than $275,000,000
aggregate principal amount of Junior Preferred Stock of Tenneco Inc. and any
and all amendments and post-effective amendments to said Registration
Statement, and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection
therewith, and to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each of said attorneys shall have the power to act hereunder with or without
the other of said attorneys and shall have full power and authority to do and
perform, in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in any and all
capacities, every act whatsoever requisite or necessary to be done in the
premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do in person, the undersigned hereby ratifying and approving the acts of
said attorneys and each of them.
 
  IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this instrument this 8th
day of October, A.D. 1996.
 
                                                 /s/ Peter T. Flawn
                                          -------------------------------------
                                                     Peter T. Flawn
<PAGE>
 
                                 TENNECO INC.
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
  The undersigned, in his capacity as a Director of Tenneco Inc., does hereby
appoint Theodore R. Tetzlaff and Karl A. Stewart, and each of them, severally,
his true and lawful attorneys, or attorney, to execute in his name, place and
stead, in his capacity as a Director of said Company, a Registration Statement
on Form S-3 for the registration of an issue of not more than $275,000,000
aggregate principal amount of Junior Preferred Stock of Tenneco Inc. and any
and all amendments and post-effective amendments to said Registration
Statement, and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection
therewith, and to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each of said attorneys shall have the power to act hereunder with or without
the other of said attorneys and shall have full power and authority to do and
perform, in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in any and all
capacities, every act whatsoever requisite or necessary to be done in the
premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do in person, the undersigned hereby ratifying and approving the acts of
said attorneys and each of them.
 
  IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this instrument this 8th
day of October, A.D. 1996.
 
                                              /s/ Henry U. Harris, Jr.
                                          -------------------------------------
                                                  Henry U. Harris, Jr.
<PAGE>
 
                                 TENNECO INC.
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
  The undersigned, in his capacity as a Director of Tenneco Inc., does hereby
appoint Theodore R. Tetzlaff and Karl A. Stewart, and each of them, severally,
his true and lawful attorneys, or attorney, to execute in his name, place and
stead, in his capacity as a Director of said Company, a Registration Statement
on Form S-3 for the registration of an issue of not more than $275,000,000
aggregate principal amount of Junior Preferred Stock of Tenneco Inc. and any
and all amendments and post-effective amendments to said Registration
Statement, and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection
therewith, and to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each of said attorneys shall have the power to act hereunder with or without
the other of said attorneys and shall have full power and authority to do and
perform, in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in any and all
capacities, every act whatsoever requisite or necessary to be done in the
premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do in person, the undersigned hereby ratifying and approving the acts of
said attorneys and each of them.
 
  IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this instrument this 8th
day of October, A.D. 1996.
 
                                             /s/ Clifton R. Wharton, Jr.
                                          -------------------------------------
                                                 Clifton R. Wharton, Jr.
<PAGE>
 
                                 TENNECO INC.
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
  The undersigned, in his capacity as a Director of Tenneco Inc., does hereby
appoint Theodore R. Tetzlaff and Karl A. Stewart, and each of them, severally,
his true and lawful attorneys, or attorney, to execute in his name, place and
stead, in his capacity as a Director of said Company, a Registration Statement
on Form S-3 for the registration of an issue of not more than $275,000,000
aggregate principal amount of Junior Preferred Stock of Tenneco Inc. and any
and all amendments and post-effective amendments to said Registration
Statement, and all instruments necessary or incidental in connection
therewith, and to file the same with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Each of said attorneys shall have the power to act hereunder with or without
the other of said attorneys and shall have full power and authority to do and
perform, in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in any and all
capacities, every act whatsoever requisite or necessary to be done in the
premises, as fully and to all intents and purposes as the undersigned might or
could do in person, the undersigned hereby ratifying and approving the acts of
said attorneys and each of them.
 
  IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this instrument this 8th
day of October, A.D. 1996.
 
                                                /s/ Sir David Plastow
                                          -------------------------------------
                                                    Sir David Plastow