Release Details

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 20, 2003--Aspen Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AZPN) today announced a major agreement with Lurgi Oel . Gas . Chemie GmbH, an international technology and engineering company that focuses on gas and hydrocarbon technology for the petrochemical industry. The new long-term software license and services agreement extends Lurgi's long-standing commitment to AspenTech's engineering solutions, and provides the company with additional components of the Aspen Engineering Suite (AES)(TM).

"Developing innovative new technologies and solutions for our clients is a continuous challenge and a key competitive differentiator for our company, such as our ongoing development of oxygen-based synthesis gas generation and MegaMethanol technology," said Dr. Hans-Dieter Holtmann, Director New Technologies of Lurgi Oel . Gas . Chemie. "AspenTech's software solutions enable us to integrate our workflows and manage process data and knowledge throughout the engineering lifecycle. This integration not only helps support our own process developments, but also allows us to seamlessly interface with the downstream engineering disciplines of our clients and engineering partners."

Lurgi Oel . Gas . Chemie has standardized on AspenTech's AES solutions for simulation, optimization and collaborative engineering to support its core competency of engineering and designing new plants. These solutions enable the company to develop process designs that offer its customers the optimum trade-off between capital investment and operating expenses. By streamlining workflows and knowledge sharing, the AES tools also enable designs to be completed more efficiently, reducing engineering costs and shortening project duration.

Under the new agreement, Lurgi Oel . Gas . Chemie is expanding its deployment of the Aspen Icarus technology for economic evaluation, extending its use from the cost estimation department into the process engineering group. This expansion will help ensure that estimates, which are made in the early phases of conceptual design to compare competing process technologies, can be made with confidence, using economic data that reflects Lurgi's own cost base.

"Lurgi Oel . Gas . Chemie is a good example of how our customers can leverage the Aspen Engineering Suite to support work processes across several departments." said David McQuillin, President and CEO of AspenTech. "By using their engineering information and knowledge more effectively, companies can both improve productivity and develop superior solutions for their business."

The Aspen Engineering Suite is an essential element of AspenTech's solutions for Enterprise Operations Management in the process industries. These integrated, enterprise-wide solutions combine engineering and manufacturing/supply chain technologies to help companies optimize the way they engineer and run their manufacturing and supply chain operations.

About Lurgi Oel . Gas . Chemie

Lurgi Oel . Gas . Chemie is an international technology and engineering group that designs, supplies and builds turnkey plants all over the world in the product areas of hydrocarbon and gas technology and for the petrochemicals industries. The organization offers its clients a comprehensive range of plant engineering services, providing a wide variety of technologies and tailor-made solutions that can lead to a significant competitive advantage for its customers. As a subsidiary of Lurgi AG, which is part of the mg technologies group, Lurgi Oel . Gas . Chemie can rely on a worldwide network of offices, thus providing optimum flexibility and responsiveness in meeting its client's project challenges.

    For more information, visit: http://www.lurgi-oel.de.

    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 TotalFinaElf. 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 Engineering Suite and the aspen leaf logo are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.

CONTACT: For Media:
Aspen Technology, Inc.
Peter Watt
+44 1223 819-752
peter.watt@aspentech.com

For Investors:
Aspen Technology, Inc.
Joshua Young
617-949-1274
joshua.young@aspentech.com