Release Details

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug 19, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ --

World's top petroleum authorities to exchange strategies for improving profitability through innovative processes and technologies

Aspen Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: AZPN), today announced that Einar Stromsvag, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Manufacturing at Statoil ASA; Abdulrahman Al-Wuhaib, Senior Vice President of Engineering Services at Saudi Aramco; and Mario Rodriguez Montero of the Ministry of Energy, Mexico, have joined the distinguished international oil industry panel scheduled to speak during the petroleum plenary session of AspenWorld 2002, set for October 27-November 1 in Washington, DC. Jack Welch, former Chairman of the Board and CEO of General Electric, will present the conference keynote address to an expected 2500 delegates from over 50 countries, representing petroleum, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other process industries.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000811/ASPENLOGO )

Speaking on the general topic of "Changing Times for Petroleum/Profitable Strategy Execution in a Volatile Marketplace," other industry leaders already part of the petroleum plenary session panel include James McCoy, General Manager of Supply Chain Operations at CITGO; Leif Eriksen, Research Director at AMR; and Bill Miller, Client Group Partner at Accenture.

"As the petroleum industry faces growing market volatility, increasing operational complexity, and greater risk, it's important for industry executives to develop and share ideas on how to handle today's challenges and plan for a profitable future," said Larry Evans, Chairman and CEO of AspenTech. "The petroleum leaders who will offer their insights into these issues at AspenWorld 2002 are among the most respected in the industry, and we are confident that they will provide innovative strategies for both business processes and technologies. We are privileged to provide the forum for such critical discussions."

AspenTech's recent acquisition of Hyprotech makes it possible for the petroleum track to focus on both upstream and downstream operations, including a session devoted entirely to upstream oil and gas solutions. Other sessions address critical issues such as production execution; planning; supply, trading, and logistics; fuels marketing; asset optimization; and industry best practices.

The petroleum track presentations are part of more than 400 presentations being given in over 80 sessions throughout the conference. Other leading companies scheduled to speak during the petroleum track include ChevronTexaco, Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil, Valero, UOP, Air Liquide, IBM, and Accenture.

About AspenTech

Aspen Technology, Inc. is a leading supplier of enterprise software to the process industries, enabling its customers to increase their margins and optimize their business performance. AspenTech's engineering solutions, incorporating Hyprotech's technologies, help companies design and improve their plants and processes, maximizing returns throughout their operational life. AspenTech's supply chain manufacturing solutions allow companies to run their plants and supply chain more profitably, from customer demand through to the delivery of the finished product. Over 1,200 leading companies rely on AspenTech's software every day to drive improvements across their most important engineering and operational processes. AspenTech's customers include: Air Liquide, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BASF, BP, ChevronTexaco, Dow Chemical, DuPont, ExxonMobil, GlaxoSmithKline, Lyondell Equistar, Merck, Mitsubishi Chemical, Shell and Unilever. 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 the cyclical chemicals, petrochemicals and petroleum industries; AspenTech's need to hire additional qualified personnel and its dependence on key current employees; intense competition; AspenTech's dependence on systems integrators and other strategic partners; changes in the market for e-business solutions for AspenTech's customers; increased governmental regulation and taxation of e-commerce and the Internet; information security and privacy concerns relating to e-commerce; 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 and the aspen leaf logo are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.

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

     Carin Warner
     Warner Communications
     (978) 526-1960
     carin@warnerpr.com

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

SOURCE Aspen Technology, Inc.

CONTACT:
Peter Watt of Aspen Technology, Inc., +44 (0) 1223 819 752, or
Carin Warner of Warner Communications, +1-978-526-1960, carin@warnerpr.com; or
Investors, Joshua Young of Aspen Technology, Inc., +1-617-949-1274,
joshua.young@aspentech.com

URL: http://www.aspentech.com
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