Travelers Oil & Gas Provides First-Ever Emergency Response Plan for Managing Well Blowouts.

HOUSTON -- Travelers announced today the launch of an emergency response planning guide for managing well blowouts that occur on U.S. oil and gas land drilling operations. It is the first-ever such resource to provide a framework for establishing an early intervention and emergency response plan to address the catastrophic impact of blowouts.

"Establishing a plan and incorporating these procedures will help businesses to mitigate losses and quite possibly save lives," said Brian Krause, vice president and global practice leader for Travelers Oil & Gas and a globally recognized expert in well control. "The emergency response plan will be a critical resource for well operators and contractors."

As a supplement to the well contractor's or operator's oil spill contingency plan, the emergency response plan identifies procedures for handling scenarios that range from routine well control operations to situations involving a total loss of well control that would necessitate the immediate mobilization of personnel and equipment. The plan also provides guidance on ways to protect personnel; outlines notification steps to alert regulatory agencies; and defines critical information required for developing response strategies, organizing personnel and pre-selecting mobilization plans.

"When these explosions happen, loss of life, damaged equipment and environmental pollution are just a few of the devastating effects a drilling operation faces," said Richard Gustafson, president, Travelers Oil & Gas. "As the largest U.S. domestic writer of control of well, Travelers is committed to making the oil and gas industry safer by providing our customers with this critical intervention information free-of-charge to help them deal with - and ideally - prevent a well blowout."

The emergency response plan was developed in conjunction with Wild Well Control, Inc., a Houston-based leading supplier of firefighting, well control and related engineering services to oil and gas operations worldwide.

To obtain a copy of the emergency response plan and other helpful documents from Travelers Oil & Gas, please visit www.travelers.com/oilgas.

About Travelers Oil & Gas

Travelers Oil & Gas provides specialized property and casualty products for customers involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas. Targeted customers include firms operating onshore and offshore. Oil & Gas distributes its products through retail agents and through exclusive relationships with wholesale brokers Swett & Crawford of Dallas, Texas and J.H. Blades in Houston, Texas.

About Travelers

Travelers believes that life and business are inherently dynamic and that the best way to serve agents and policyholders is to provide insurance that helps them stay in-synch with their lives. For more information on being in-synch, visit www.travelers.com.

Travelers is a business of The St. Paul Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:STA), a leading property casualty insurer selling primarily through agents and brokers. The company's diverse business lines offer its global customers a wide range of coverage in both the personal and commercial settings, including automobile, homeowners, construction, small business, oil and gas, ocean marine, financial and professional services, global technology and public sector services. St. Paul Travelers is ranked 85 in the Fortune 500, with 2006 revenues of $25.09 billion and total assets of $113.76 billion. The company has approximately 32,000 employees.