Press release

ConocoPhillips to Establish Qatar Research Center Focused on Increasing Availability of Useable Water

HOUSTON, July 9th, 2007 - ConocoPhillips announced today that it will establish a Water Sustainability Center that will examine ways of treating and using by-product water from oil production and refining operations, as well as other projects relating to industrial and municipal water sustainability.  The center will be located in Qatar Science & Technology Park at Education City, Doha, Qatar.

When companies produce oil and gas, water often is produced along with the oil - on average, worldwide, roughly three barrels of water for every barrel of oil, estimates ConocoPhillips. Impurities usually make the by-product water unusable without costly treatment. 

ConocoPhillips aims to develop more efficient and cost effective treatment technologies at its Qatar Water Sustainability Center.  Proposed uses for treated water could include crop irrigation, livestock watering, wildlife habitats, and industrial cooling, potentially leaving more fresh-water available for domestic use.

ConocoPhillips plans to invest $25 million in the center over its first 5-7 years.  The center will conduct research on and develop and test technologies relating to water production and management.  The center will be designated as ConocoPhillips' worldwide center for water technologies, disseminating findings to the company's global operations as well as to local government and industry partners.

"ConocoPhillips has a strong, longstanding relationship with Qatar, and we have been looking to expand that relationship in ways that benefit both our own operations and the Qatari community," said J. Mike Stice, president, ConocoPhillips Qatar.  "The Water Sustainability Center is a landmark facility.  We are confident that it will develop valuable innovations and will make a genuine contribution to Qatar's future and water treatment science."

Dr. Eulian Roberts, Managing Director of Qatar Science & Technology Park, said, "Becoming a knowledge-based economy means applying human ingenuity and technology to solve industrial challenges.  This is at the core of the Water Sustainability Center, and we welcome ConocoPhillips as a valuable member of the knowledge environment at Qatar Science & Technology Park."

ConocoPhillips is a major participant in Qatar's oil and gas industry as the key foreign partner in the Qatargas 3 project, which is expected to produce 7.8 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually beginning in 2009.