Re Contract

ABB Ltd
22 March 2001


ABB Media Relations                           ABB Investor Relations
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ABB WINS US$ 180 MILLION SUBSEA CONTRACT OFF NIGERIAN COAST

Part of Shell's US$1.4 billion Bonga development


Zurich, Switzerland, March 22, 2001 - ABB says it has won a US$ 180 million
order to deliver the subsea production system for the Bonga development project
currently underway 120 kilometers offshore Nigeria in West Africa. ABB says it
won the contract from Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo),
operator of the field on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company
(NNPC), who is the license holder. The equipment will be installed in a water
depth of up to 1,200 meters.

Under the terms of the contract, ABB is responsible for engineering, procurement
and construction (EPC) of all of the subsea equipment required for the Bonga
field development, including production control umbilicals and gas lift risers.
As part of the contract, ABB will supply 29 conventional subsea trees and
associated hardware to facilitate oil production from, and water injection into,
the reservoir. The first subsea equipment delivery will be 15 months from now.
Equipment delivery will continue until mid 2009. ABB is also constructing a new
US$ 2 million subsea operations base in the Onne free port in Nigeria as part of
the project.

The workscope encompasses project management, engineering, and the supply of
manifolds, trees, wellheads, controls, connection systems, intervention
equipment, integration testing and installation support.

'This is one more critical step in maintaining ABB's market leading position in
West Africa, and clearly demonstrates our commitment in the area,' says Gorm
Gundersen, executive vice-president and head of ABB's Oil, Gas and
Petrochemicals division. 'This project is a great opportunity to showcase some
of our most innovative and robust technology. As oil and gas companies go deeper
and deeper into hostile environments, they need technologies and systems that
are robust and reliable and that can withstand the higher pressure and
temperature conditions. ABB is uniquely positioned to meet this need.'

The Bonga Subsea Production System will be tied back to a 300 000 dead weight
ton (DWT) floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) spread moored
nearby.

ABB (www.abb.com) serves manufacturing, process and consumer industries,
utilities, and the oil and gas markets, with 160,000 employees in more than 100
countries.