Conoco and HoustonStreet form joint venture

[Deb Dargie <ddargie@beaupre.com>]

Contact:	Deb Dargie
Kim Salem
		Beaupre & Co. Public Relations Inc.
HoustonStreet Exchange
		(603) 559-5826
(603) 766-8703
		ddargie@beaupre.com
ksalem@houstonstreet.com

Conoco and HoustonStreet form joint venture 
to streamline the way energy companies do business

New company to automate mid- and back-office energy trading activities
 based on Conoco's COIN technology and HoustonStreet's e-commerce expertise

PORTSMOUTH, NH, Sept. 7, 2000 - Global energy giant Conoco (NYSE:COC.A)
(NYSE:COC.B) and online energy trading pioneer HoustonStreet Exchange will
form a joint venture to develop and market a Web-enabled version of Conoco's
automated mid- and back-office applications for the global energy market.
Sapient (Nasdaq: SAPE), a leading creator of new-economy businesses, has
been selected to assist in the early stages of this venture. 

The new, yet-to-be-named venture will develop technology based on Conoco's
Crude Oil Information Network (COIN) as well as other Conoco technologies
created for refined products and the global energy market. COIN automates
the arduous and expensive processes of pricing, contracting, scheduling,
settling and benchmarking physical crude oil trades. It facilitates
commercial transactions from trading centers and ships to oil field leases
and accounts for all transportation modes. Conoco's refined products system,
built with similar technology and functionality, facilitates transactions
from the refinery to truck volumes at the rack. HoustonStreet will bring its
proven e-commerce energy expertise to the venture to make the new
application available through the Web via an application service provider
(ASP) model.

The new venture can potentially save energy companies millions of dollars
annually by automating costly manual processes. It could also save companies
facing legacy system replacement tens of millions of dollars and many years
of development. The venture offers the entire industry a standard platform
for making commercial energy trading more efficient and profitable.  "It is
imperative this be a solution with strong industry support and neutrality.
After development, this venture will be operated independent of any
individual energy company with ownership spread across the industry," said
Rick Oshlo, Conoco's vice president of supply and trading, North America.
"COIN works," said Mac Curtis, general manager, crude oil supply and
trading, North America, at Conoco. "With a fully integrated system, we've
slashed costs, traded smarter and kept on top of our inventory and financial
position. That's why other players in the oil industry want it. With
HoustonStreet's industry knowledge, proven track record of execution and
Web-enabling expertise, we'll together offer energy trading companies a
neutral, secure and easy way to automate their post-trading processes."

Managing these processes to date has been painfully slow, inefficient and
costly. COIN alone replaces nine separate legacy systems common throughout
the industry. COIN eliminates re-keying of data and paper-based tracking,
and reduces the risk of errors by automating how trade information passes
from the front-line traders to the company's mid- and back-office systems.
Once a trader enters a trade's details, the information automatically
becomes available to everyone throughout the company, whether they're
located in the central trading headquarters or in remote offices. The
scheduler can immediately schedule delivery of the product on best-available
data, slashing weeks from the process. The company's financial team can
ensure payment and balance the books, and the traders have the most
up-to-date information at their fingertips.

"HoustonStreet intends to be nothing less than the Internet foundation upon
which the energy industry does business," said Brian King, HoustonStreet's
vice president of crude oil and refined products. "We looked at other mid-
and back-office systems and validated that COIN is best-in-class. Conoco is
a visionary company and we prize their superb reputation in the industry.
Together we can provide the industry with a system that will automate post
trade processes, generate significant savings, and deliver a better way to
do business." 

About Conoco

Conoco (NYSE:COC.A) (NYSE:COC.B), with revenues of $27 billion, is a major
integrated energy company and active in more than 40 countries. Conoco is
one of 14 founders in the giant global procurement exchange for energy and
petrochemical companies announced April 11.
About HoustonStreet Exchange

Designed by traders for traders, HoustonStreet 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 
through conventional methods. HoustonStreet Exchange is headquartered in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire with offices in Houston, Texas. HoustonStreet
Exchange is a majority-owned subsidiary of BayCorp Holdings, Ltd., (AMEX:
MWH). For more information, visit HoustonStreet at www.houstonstreet.com.
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Best Regards,

Deb Dargie
Senior Account Executive
Beaupre & Co. Public Relations, Inc.
A Brodeur Worldwide Partner
Phone: (603) 559-5826
Fax:  (603) 559-5876
ddargie@beaupre.com
www.beaupre.com