Houston Street Exchange to launch new Web-based oil trading exchange backed by large industry players

Joint trading arm for Shell Oil, Texaco and Saudi Aramco invests in platform and registers to buy and sell crude and refined products

PORTSMOUTH, NH, Feb. 8, 2000 - Backed by a multi-million dollar investment from the trading arm of some of the biggest names in the oil business, Houston Street Exchange today announced it will launch one of the first Web exchanges for the trading of crude oil and refined products at the wholesale level. Equiva Trading Company, the trading element of the U.S. downstream Alliance of Shell Oil, Texaco Inc. and Saudi Aramco, will invest more than $6 million as an equity stake in HoustonStreet to help develop the exchange. Equiva will use the new independent site as its primary Web-based trading platform for trading with other oil market participants.

One of the power industry's most closely watched Web platforms for trading electricity, HoustonStreet takes the next step toward becoming the premier global exchange for online energy trading by announcing its new oil trading platform.

The new HoustonStreet oil and products exchange will allow industry traders from any organization to buy and sell crude and refined products (such as gasoline, heating oil, jet fuel or diesel) in this $1 trillion industry. HoustonStreet.com's exchange is designed to bring a level of efficiency the industry has not achieved with existing proprietary technologies. HoustonStreet.com will initially cover the U.S. trading market, and plans to expand to encompass international markets.

"The oil and products trading industry relies on the same inefficient technology as the power industry: the fax and the phone," said Ethan Cohen, energy industry analyst with Yankee Group. "Being an early leader in this space, HoustonStreet has the opportunity to set the standard for efficiency in online crude and refined products trades. This deal between Houston Street Exchange and Equiva demonstrates the power of the Internet in driving new, efficient solutions for the energy industry as a whole."

The oil industry is a relationship-based business where traders rely on the telephone to conduct trades. Historically, oil traders have juggled numerous phones while calling around to get the latest market prices and hoping that their call goes through so they can make the deal. A missed phone call could mean millions of dollars. Because supply and demand dictates changes in crude and refined products pricing, immediate access to information about industry supply and demand is paramount.

HoustonStreet intends to solve this problem by giving traders immediate access to current pricing fluctuations and real-time supply and demand market information. Oil traders will have an easy-to-use, Web-based trading floor that gives them all the information and flexibility they need to post offers, make bids, counter and re-counter instantaneously, until they close the deal. For the first time, both crude and products traders will be able to conduct their business in one spot on one exchange, enhancing their view of the market.

"The Internet will significantly transform the traditional energy markets, including crude and products," said Art Nicoletti, president, Equiva Trading. "We looked at a number of other Internet-based trading platforms and we think HoustonStreet.com is the best trading engine in the market. We believe that by supporting these efforts we will enjoy significant benefits from improved efficiency and customer relations."

By consulting with oil traders in the development process, HoustonStreet.com will feature a platform that focuses on crude trading, and another that focuses on refined products trading. Once these trading floors go live, traders will be able to make deals based on the product and volume of their choice --much as they do today, but more efficiently and easily with the Internet.

In signing the deal with Houston Street Exchange, Equiva cited HoustonStreet.com's efficiency in providing up-to-the-second market information, its neutral trading environment where companies of any size can participate, and its easy integration with back office systems to facilitate analyses of overall trading performance.

Similar to its electricity trading platforms, HoustonStreet will be easy to access, navigate and use, allowing traders to maintain total control over each transaction, view their complete trading history, and sort offers and bids by price, volume and delivery point. Users will also be able to customize their Web page to see exactly the information they need to make the best deals and trade 24 hours a day, 365 days a year using an online service that ensures the security and anonymity of each transaction.

"Just as with the power industry, we expect HoustonStreet.com to bring efficiency to the wholesale oil trading industry," said Frank Getman, president and CEO of Houston Street Exchange. "Is the oil industry ready? We think it is, and we have large players that agree. We are thrilled to have Equiva, a major oil industry trading entity, as our first liquidity-backed equity partner for crude and products trading. Equiva has committed to this technology because they believe that HoustonStreet can streamline business processes and make it easier for their traders to make the best deals."

About Houston Street Exchange
Designed by traders for traders, Houston Street Exchange represents the first Web portal for the trading of wholesale energy products. HoustonStreet.com provides an online trading engine that allows traders to buy and sell their energy products faster, more efficiently and more easily than they do today. Houston Street Exchange is headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with offices in Houston, Texas. Houston Street Exchange is a majority-owned subsidiary of BayCorp Holdings, Ltd., (AMEX: MWH). For more information, visit Houston Street at www.houstonstreet.com.

About Equiva Trading Company
Equiva Trading Company is a general partnership company that functions as the supply and trading unit for Equilon Enterprises LLC and Motiva Enterprises LLC, in addition to providing services to affiliates of Texaco Inc. and Royal Dutch/Shell Group. Equilon is a joint venture between Shell Oil Company and Texaco Inc. This joint venture combines the major elements of the two companies' former western and midwestern U.S. refining and marketing businesses and their nationwide transportation and lubricants businesses. Motiva is a joint venture of Shell Oil Company, Texaco Inc. and Saudi Refining, Inc., a corporate affiliate of Saudi Aramco. This joint venture combines the major elements of the three companies' former eastern and Gulf Coast U.S. refining and marketing businesses.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause these forward-looking statements to be materially inaccurate. These factors include, without limitation, that (i) energy traders may be unwilling or unable to use Internet-based power trading systems, including HoustonStreet.com, (ii) HoustonStreet.com may not be able to operate profitably, (iii) technological or systems outages could occur (iv) competitors with greater financial, marketing or other resources could emerge, (v) performance is contingent upon successful completion of design and implementation of the crude and refined products site, and (vi) market acceptance of HoustonStreet.com cannot be predicted. HoustonStreet.com is a registered service mark of Houston Street Exchange.