(Archived) Brittingham Named Vice President & General Manager at Praxair

DANBURY, Conn., March 10, 2006 — Praxair Distribution, Inc., a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) has announced the promotion of Randy Brittingham to the position of Vice President and General Manager, U.S., reporting to Praxair Distribution's President Wayne Yakich. Brittingham was formerly South Central Division General Manager. In this new role, Brittingham has responsibility for Praxair Distribution’s Desert Mountain, Central California, Southern California, Gulf States, Central Great Lakes, Southern, South Central and North Central Divisions.

"Randy has been a key contributor within Praxair and brings excellent skills and business acumen to this new position," said Yakich. "He has been with Praxair for more than 24 years exhibiting strong personal performance in engineering, operations, sales and general management positions. Randy's addition to Praxair Distribution’s senior management team provides focused division leadership to help us maintain our position as the only fully integrated industrial gases company in North America."

Brittingham started his career in 1981 with Union Carbide as an engineer in the welding products group in Florence, South Carolina. After joining what is now Praxair Surface Technologies in 1985, he held progressively greater responsibilities in engineering, quality assurance, plant and sales management before being named Vice President of North America for Praxair Surface Technologies in 2002. Brittingham joined Praxair Distribution in January, 2005.

Brittingham holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland. He will relocate to Praxair's Burr Ridge, Illinois office and his successor will be named shortly.

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 2005 sales of $7.7 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