Re Contract

ABB Ltd
14 December 2000


             ABB wins US$ 160-million clean fuels order in U.S.

Zurich, Switzerland, December 14, 2000 - ABB, the global technology company,
said today it has won a US$ 160-million order to implement the major portion of
a clean fuels project at Murphy Oil USA, Inc.'s refinery in Meraux, Louisiana, 
USA.

Under the terms of the contract, ABB is responsible for engineering, procurement
and construction of the project, which is scheduled for completion in the second
quarter of 2003. Murphy Oil USA, Inc is a subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corporation.

Through its ABB Lummus Global unit, ABB will design and build a new
hydrocracker, a new hydrotreater and a new central control room at the refinery.
The project is aimed at allowing the Meraux facility to produce cleaner burning
fuels, reduce emissions from the refinery, and to cost effectively meet future
sulfur limits for gasoline and diesel.

'This project is in line with our goal to further develop our expertise in the
area of low-emission production of cleaner transportation fuels,' said Gorm
Gundersen, Executive Vice president and head of ABB's Oil, Gas and
Petrochemicals segment. 'We are a recognized supplier of systems and equipment
for clean fuel producers and we intend to build that position even further.'

ABB announced last month an order to modernize a Russian oil refinery to produce
cleaner burning transportation fuels. ABB is also in alliance with the Chevron,
Exxon and Shell oil companies to develop technology for making cleaner
transportation fuels.

The ABB Group (www.abb.com) 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.