PETRONAS Adopts AspenTech's Solution for Fuels Marketing to Optimize Distribution of Fuels and Specialty Products.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 2003

Malaysia's national petroleum corporation adopts supply chain technology and business processes to reduce costs and improve customer service

Aspen Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AZPN) today announced that PETRONAS Dagangan Bhd (PDB), the domestic marketing arm of PETRONAS, has adopted AspenTech's solution for fuels marketing to optimize the distribution of fuels and specialty liquid petroleum products. PDB is adopting supply chain business processes to streamline and automate the distribution of more than 7.5 billion liters of petroleum products per year to its customers across peninsular Malaysia, including more than 600 retail service stations. The solution is expected to reduce the company's distribution costs and to deliver improved service to its customers. AspenTech recognized the license revenue from this transaction in its fourth quarter, ending June 30, 2003.

PDB is implementing AspenTech's solution for fuels marketing as the central element of a project to create an Automated Road Tanker Scheduling System (ARTSS). This project is expected to create a single system capable of managing and optimizing the distribution of all petroleum products - including vehicle gasoline, aviation fuel, diesel, fuel oil, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), lubricants and bitumen - from bulk terminals or plants to the end-customer. The system is expected to enable PDB to collaborate with multiple transport companies, provide major customers with automated stock replenishment using vendor-managed inventory, and link the ordering and fulfillment process with its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.

PDB supplies fuels to about 4,800 customers in Malaysia, including its network of about 600 service stations. For these customers, the ARTSS system is based on AspenTech's fuels marketing solution, which includes the Aspen Retail(TM) product. Aspen Retail manages the fuel inventories for each customer, calculating reliable demand forecasts and then creating replenishment plans to ensure that adequate stocks are maintained. It then takes these plans and creates an optimized delivery schedule for the entire market that provides the desired reduced overall cost per volume.

The system for customers of other petroleum products, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), lubricants and bitumen, is based on the Aspen Specialty Products RSO(TM) product. In this case, the customers submit orders directly, which are then captured and managed by the system. It then generates the most efficient transportation schedule to meet various demand requirements.

"By standardizing on AspenTech's solution for fuels marketing, PETRONAS has begun to create an operational backbone for its downstream operations that will enhance the value of its ERP system and support its goals for operational excellence," said David McQuillin, President and CEO of AspenTech. "The desire and commitment shown by PETRONAS to adopt technology and business best practices has clearly positioned them as a current and future leader in the Asia-Pacific market."

About PETRONAS

PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Bhd, is Malaysia's national petroleum corporation established on 17 August 1974. Wholly-owned by the Government, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and adding value to these resources. Since its incorporation PETRONAS has grown to be an integrated international oil and gas company with business interests in more than 30 countries. As at end of March 2002, the PETRONAS Group comprised 73 wholly-owned subsidiaries, 21 partly-owned outfits and 45 associated companies. The Group is engaged in a wide spectrum of petroleum activities, including upstream exploration and production of oil and gas to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; trading; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas; petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; shipping; automotive engineering; and property investment.

About AspenTech

Aspen Technology, Inc. provides industry-leading software and implementation services that enable process companies to increase efficiency and profitability. AspenTech's engineering product line is used to design and improve plants and processes, maximizing returns throughout an asset's operating life. Its manufacturing/supply chain product line allows companies to increase margins in their plants and supply chains, by managing customer demand, optimizing production, and streamlining the delivery of finished products. These two offerings are combined to create solutions for enterprise operations management (EOM), integrated enterprise-wide systems that provide process manufacturers with the capability to dramatically improve their operating performance. Over 1,500 leading companies already rely on AspenTech's software, including Aventis, Bayer, BASF, BP, ChevronTexaco, Dow Chemical, DuPont, ExxonMobil, Fluor, Foster Wheeler, GlaxoSmithKline, Shell, and Total. For more information, visit www.aspentech.com.

Certain paragraphs of this press release contain forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any statement using the term "will," "should," "could," "anticipates," "believes" or a comparable term is a forward-looking statement. Actual results may vary significantly from AspenTech's expectations based on a number of risks and uncertainties, including: AspenTech's lengthy sales cycle which makes it difficult to predict quarterly operating results; fluctuations in AspenTech's quarterly operating results; AspenTech's dependence on customers in cyclical industries; adverse global economic conditions; AspenTech's ability to raise additional capital as required; the FTC's investigation of the Hyprotech acquisition; the outcome of AspenTech's restructuring plans; intense competition; AspenTech's need to develop and market products successfully; and other risk factors described from time to time in AspenTech's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AspenTech cannot guarantee any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. Moreover, neither AspenTech nor anyone else assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any forward-looking statements. AspenTech undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.

AspenTech, Aspen Retail, Aspen Specialty Products RSO and the aspen leaf logo are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.