Contract

ABB Ltd
21 July 2000



ABB Corporate Communications, Zurich         ABB Investor Relations, Zurich
John Fox                                     John Chironna
Tel: [phone]                          Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]                          Fax: [phone]
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ABB TO BUILD $574-MILLION GAS PROCESSING PLANT IN ALGERIA

Zurich, Switzerland, July 21, 2000 - ABB, the global technology company,
confirmed today it has been awarded an order valued at US$ 574 million, together
with Petrofac International Ltd. of the U.S., to design and build a natural gas
processing plant for the Ohanet gas fields in Algeria.  The order was placed by
a consortium led by BHP Petroleum of Australia.

Under the terms of the contract, ABB is responsible for the design, procurement
and construction of the plant, which will process natural gas into LPG
(liquefied petroleum gas) and condensates used in fuel, chemical feedstocks, and
other applications.  The plant will have an output of 30,400 barrels a day (b/d)
of condensate, 27,700 b/d of LPG and 665 million cubic feet a day of pipeline
quality gas.  Production from the plant is expected to begin in late 2003.

ABB said the order reflects the strong position of its ABB Lommus Global unit in
the upstream oil and gas processing market, and builds on the ABB Group's proven
track record in Africa, where it is playing a key role in energy infrastructure
development.  This is the first major order of the third quarter in the Oil, Gas
and Petrochemicals segment after the record 47-percent increase in orders
reported yesterday for the first half of the year.  ABB's Oil, Gas and
Petrochemicals segment reported revenues in 1999 of about $3 billion, or about
12 percent of ABB Group's total sales.

The Ohanet fields lie on the northern edge of the Sahara desert, about 1,300
kilometers southeast of Algiers and 100 kilometers west of the Libyan Border.

The ABB Group serves customers in power transmission and distribution;
automation; oil, gas and petrochemicals; building technologies; and in financial
services.  With novel IT applications, tailored software solutions, growing
eBusiness and a fast-expanding knowledge and service base, ABB is building links
to the new economy.  The ABB Group employs about 160,000 people in more than 100
countries.