LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD) announced today that it has signed a Letter of Intent to construct a new hydrogen production plant in Port Arthur, Texas to supply 110 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of hydrogen to The Premcor Refining Group Inc.'s refinery, and to additional customers on Air Products' Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline system. Air Products will also produce 100 megawatts of power for use by both companies and 1.2 million pounds per day of steam for Premcor's operation. The plant, to be owned and operated by Air Products, is expected to be on-stream in June 2006.

Premcor will use the hydrogen supplied by Air Products to make cleaner transportation fuels mandated by federal vehicle emissions control regulations. The steam and power production will allow Premcor to shut down existing production assets to voluntarily reduce NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions and also meet Premcor's increased steam and power requirements associated with its new diesel hydrotreater. This is the second Air Products hydrogen facility to serve Premcor's Texas oil refinery. Air Products' 105 MMSCFD hydrogen facility has been supplying Premcor at the Port Arthur refinery since 2001.

"We are very pleased to continue our valued relationship with Premcor and meet the refinery's increased need for high-purity hydrogen, power and steam. We have worked very closely with Premcor to optimize the design of this facility for low-cost and reliable production of all three products," said Jeffry L. Byrne, Air Products' vice president and general manager for Refining and Process Industries.

The new hydrogen facility will be part of Air Products' Gulf Coast pipeline network, which extends from the Houston Ship Channel in Texas to Lake Charles, La., and from Baton Rouge to Norco, La., and east of New Orleans. This pipeline network provides very highly reliable hydrogen supply to approximately 50 refinery and process industry customers. The Port Arthur project is one of three hydrogen facilities currently under engineering and construction by Air Products in the Gulf Coast. The others include a 110 MMSCFD facility in Convent, La., and a 70 MMSCFD expansion in Baytown, Tex., both of which are connected to the Gulf Coast pipeline network. "These three new projects will increase our Gulf Coast pipeline system capacity to over 900 MMSCFD per day of hydrogen. We will continue to increase the size of our Gulf Coast hydrogen system in a manner that is consistent with the needs of our key refining and petrochemical customers," said Byrne.

To view the full text of this announcement, please visit Air Products online Press Room at http://www.airproducts.com/PressRoom/CompanyNews/Archived/2005/21Apr05a.htm.

***NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results could vary materially, due to changes in current expectations.

SOURCE  Air Products
    -0-                             04/21/2005
    /CONTACT:  Media Inquiries: (Air Products) Art George, +1-610-481-1340,
e-mail: georgeaf@airproducts.com; (Premcor) Karyn Ovelmen, +1-203-698-5669;
(Technip) Sylvie Hallemans, +33 (0) 1 47 78 34 85, e-mail:
shallemans@technip-coflexip.com; Investor Inquiries: (Air Products) Phil
Sproger, +1-610-481-7461, e-mail: sprogepc@airproducts.com; or (Premcor) Karyn
Ovelmen, +1-203-698-5669/
    /Web site:  http://www.airproducts.com /
    (APD)

CO:  Air Products; The Premcor Refining Group Inc.
ST:  Pennsylvania, Texas, Louisiana
IN:  CHM CPR OIL
SU:  CON

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8732 04/21/2005 11:22 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com