(Archived) Praxair Opens New Cylinder Gases Plant in Houston Ship Channel

DANBURY, Conn., September 20, 2005 — Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) today announced the completion of a new multi-million dollar plant to supply industrial, medical and specialty packaged gases to customers in Deer Park, Texas, near Houston, in an area known as the “Houston Ship Channel.”

The state-of-the-art plant employs 20 persons and features automated filling of gas cylinders across a broad range of products such as helium, breathing air, medical oxygen, argon and carbon dioxide. The 22,640 square foot facility will expand Praxair’s offerings to the refinery, chemical and metal fabrication industries in the Houston Ship Channel to include specialty gases and equipment, welding supplies and related services.

“Praxair serves many on-site, bulk gas and pipeline customers in the Houston Ship Channel,” said Jason Krieger, Gulf States Division general manager for Praxair Distribution, Inc., a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. “This brand new facility provides Praxair with a local capability to produce industrial, medical and specialty grades of argon, carbon dioxide, helium, nitrogen and oxygen in a variety of packages and sizes to suit customer requirements. We will also produce a wide range of industrial welding and shielding mixtures and custom specialty blended gases.”

“As the only fully-integrated gas supplier in North America, Praxair can provide industrial, medical and specialty gases in the full range of supply modes,” said Praxair Distribution president Wayne Yakich. “In addition to our on-site production capability at Deer Park, we also have an extensive specialty gases network to stock and supply high quality gas products to customers in the Houston Ship Channel,” Yakich said.

Praxair Distribution, Inc. and its subsidiaries and distributors deliver a wide array of industrial and specialty gases, equipment and supplies, technical expertise, and services to thousands of customers in the United States and Canada. With hundreds of locations throughout North America, Praxair provides differentiated product and service offerings that help customers achieve their objectives faster, better and at lower total cost.

Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2004 sales of $6.6 billion. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric and process gases, and high-performance surface coatings. Praxair products, services and technologies bring productivity and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and others. More information on Praxair is available on the Internet at www.praxair.com.