Arnold Schwarzenegger Unveils First BP-Branded Retail-Designed Hydrogen Site In US

Station is Second Participation in US DOE Fuel Cell Vehicle and Infrastructure Validation Effort

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, today officially dedicated the state's first retail- designed hydrogen demonstration refueling station, at a BP-branded site at Los Angeles International Airport. The station has been developed in partnership with Praxair, South Coast Air Quality Management District and Los Angeles World Airport and will provide hydrogen for five DaimlerChrysler fuel cell cars.

Speaking at the dedication ceremony, Ross Pillari, President, BP America, said: "The opening of this hydrogen demonstration site is an important step to meeting the future energy needs of California. It is also an important milestone for us in BP and for the US. It, along with other development projects, will bring the day when hydrogen can be made widely available to customers a step closer.

Carol Battershell, BP's Director of Alternative Fuels added: "Today's celebration reflects our belief in the potential hydrogen offers for wide- scale emission-free transport. And while the day when that may be possible is still sometime away, projects such as this demonstrate what we can do today to provide the fuels of tomorrow."

BP, which markets its traditional fuels in California under the ARCO brand, is also working in partnership with the US Department of Energy, DaimlerChrysler and Ford to develop further hydrogen refueling stations in several US states. Elsewhere in the world, the company is a participant in a pan-European nine-city fuel cell bus project and has signed an agreement with the Chinese Government to develop hydrogen demonstration fueling facilities to support fuel cell buses in Beijing, in time for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The Los Angeles Airport project brings BP's worldwide involvement in hydrogen sites to 12. Earlier this week, the company unveiled the first hydrogen refueling facility to be built under the DOE's fuel cell and infrastructure validation program, at the DTE Energy Hydrogen Technology Park in Detroit.

1. Hydrogen is the world's cleanest transport fuel. When used in a fuel cell, the only emission produced is water. 2. There are a range of pathways to producing, delivering and storing hydrogen. It can be produced from natural gas either centrally at a refinery or on site; or manufactured on site using electrolysis. It can be delivered, stored and dispensed in gaseous form or as a liquid. One of the biggest challenges is to produce hydrogen from water using electricity provided from renewable sources, such as solar or wind power. This would make hydrogen a wholly sustainable fuel. 3. BP is participating in hydrogen demonstration projects around the world. In Europe, BP is the leading energy company participant in the Clean Urban Transport for Europe programme involved in a total of five hydrogen demonstration sites including Barcelona, Stuttgart and London. The company is also involved in hydrogen demonstration projects in Berlin and Munich, in Germany, a recently opened facility in Perth, Australia and launched the world's first demonstration refueling facility at an existing retail station in Singapore, in July. 4. The Los Angeles Airport project was developed by BP and Praxair, with support from the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the DOE and the California Energy Commission. The site has been designed to run like a public retail site in order to enhance BP's understanding of how it might develop solutions to supply hydrogen to existing retail stations in the future. 5. In addition to the Los Angeles Airport project, BP is taking part in US DOE-supported projects due to be run in several US states. BP is a member of the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) which operates a hydrogen demonstration station in Sacramento, California. 6. BP supports a range of research and development initiatives aimed at developing technical solutions to support the delivery, storage and dispensing of hydrogen. These involve both academic institutions and private companies and in the US include compact reformers and high pressure refueling. 7. BP is a global energy company providing increasingly clean fuels to some 13 million customers at 26,000 retail sites across the world every day. BP is the largest producer of natural gas in the US and has extensive interests in oil and natural gas production facilities around the world. In California, BP is home to 6000 employees and markets its retail products under the ARCO and ampm brands.