BOC Helping to Fuel Canada's Hydrogen Highway.

MURRAY HILL, N.J. -- BOC (NYSE: BOX), one of the world's largest industrial gases companies and a leader in the developing global hydrogen energy market, is helping design and construct a hydrogen fueling station located along Canada's Hydrogen Highway(TM) in Vancouver, British Columbia.

BOC is working with Canada's National Research Council (NRC) and the Canadian Transportation Fuel Cell Alliance - a Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) initiative - to jointly fund and build the station, located at NRC's Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation on the campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC). The equipment installation is to begin in November, with full system commissioning expected in the first quarter of 2005.

This is the second of seven proposed hydrogen fueling stations planned for the length of highway that stretches from the Vancouver airport to Whistler. The British Columbia Hydrogen Highway is planned to be completed in 2007 to support Canada in its hosting of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

BOC also provided funding and support for the first station, the Compressed Hydrogen Infrastructure Project (CH2IP) located at BC Hydro's PowerTech Labs in Surrey, British Columbia. That station began fueling hydrogen powered vehicles to 350 bar in 2002 and then to 700 bar in 2003, making it the world's first 700-bar fast-fill compressed hydrogen vehicle fueling station.

For this station, BOC will provide the engineering, hydrogen compression and composite hydrogen storage equipment. BOC also is managing the hydrogen safety processes and system integration plans necessary to ensure the development of a safe, reliable and fully functioning hydrogen vehicle fueling station and a comprehensive fuel quality testing program.

The first users of the NRC/UBC station will be the Vancouver Fuel Cell Vehicle Program (VFCVP). The VFCVP is a cooperative venture with NRCan, NRC the B.C. Government, Ford Motor Company and Fuel Cells Canada (FCC) a non-profit industry association aimed at accelerating Canada's fuel cell and hydrogen industry. The program consists of a three-year evaluation of four fuel cell-powered Ford Focus cars under real world conditions. Fueling these vehicles will require a 350-bar compressed hydrogen fueling station.

The station's flexible design concept also allows for many other user needs, including the ability to service larger vehicles and fill portable storage systems for use at satellite stations. The novel station design also offers the potential to fuel from multiple hydrogen sources.

"We learned a great deal from our involvement in the CH2IP, and our plan for the station takes the system integration concept to another level," said John Carolin, global director, hydrogen energy, BOC. Besides fueling on site, we can store and deliver the hydrogen to smaller or more remote fueling stations. It's a way to help expand alternative fueling options for motorists," Carolin said.

BOC has a solid track record of delivering hydrogen production and supply solutions tailored to meet our customers' needs. BOC is supplying its full range of products and services to our industrial hydrogen customers as well as the emerging hydrogen energy markets across the globe, participating in high profile demonstration projects, supporting the development of new technology, creating innovative customer solutions, and investing in new ventures.

Carolin said, "With more than 100 hydrogen plants worldwide, and thousands of hydrogen customers BOC has a broad range of supply options and extensive knowledge of the safe use of high pressure gases in mobile applications -- two factors that are essential to the successful development of a hydrogen fuel cell economy."

BOC is a leader is supporting hydrogen energy projects around the world. The company is:

--A member of Chrysalix Energy Limited Partnership, the private venture capital firm that invests in early-stage fuel cell and hydrogen companies, and also is a direct investor in other companies, such as the Burnaby-based QuestAir Technologies, working to develop fuel cell and hydrogen energy technologies.

--Building, for BP, two refueling stations to supply hydrogen for a fleet of fuel cell buses, which began operational field trials around London in January 2004. The trials are part of a European project into hydrogen fuel cell technology aimed at developing an environmentally 'clean' public transport system, known as CUTE (Clean Urban Transport for Europe). BOC has built another facility for BP for a similar fuel cell bus trial in Perth, Australia, where BOC is purifying and compressing the hydrogen.

--A member of the board of directors of Fuel Cells Canada and the U.S. National Hydrogen Association and a member of the steering team for Canada's Hydrogen Highway(TM) project.

--Working with Cellex Power Products, Inc., to develop complete hydrogen supply solutions to power forklift trucks used in large distribution warehouses in North America. Cellex will supply the hydrogen power units that go into the trucks; BOC will provide the indoor hydrogen refueling facilities.

--A silver member of the California Hydrogen Business Council, a non-profit group that links hydrogen-technology developers, businesses, energy leaders, government, and infrastructure providers.

The BOC Group (NYSE:BOX), the worldwide industrial gases, vacuum technologies and distribution services company, serves two million customers in more than 50 countries. It employs 44,500 people and had annual sales of over $7 billion in 2003. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at www.boc.com.