Chart Announces Opening of JV Manufacturing Facility for Air Cooled Heat Exchangers in the Middle East

CLEVELAND, Nov. 2, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chart Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:GTLS), a leading independent global manufacturer of highly engineered equipment used in the production, storage and end-use of hydrocarbon and industrial gases, today announced that Abahsain Specialized Industrial Co. Ltd. ("ASIC"), a joint venture in which Chart's Energy & Chemicals business ("Chart E&C") participates, has opened its manufacturing facility in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The state-of-the-art, 85,000 square foot facility will manufacture air cooled heat exchangers to support the region's energy and petrochemical industries.

"Air cooled heat exchangers are required for various processes in the production and refining of oil, gas, and petrochemicals in the Middle East," stated Mike Durkin, President of Chart E&C. "Until now, this equipment and replacement parts had to be imported into the region," Durkin further stated. "ASIC has significant technical engineering and design capabilities, and the new facility can provide the complete manufacturing of standard and customized air cooled heat exchangers, thus greatly reducing the cost of shipping each unit and improving the speed of delivery to the marketplace."

The ASIC joint venture was formed in 2008 and has a growing list of customers, including Saudi Aramco. "Qualifying as a supplier for Saudi Aramco requires a rigorous auditing process to meet high construction standards. Winning their approval is an honor for us," Durkin acknowledged. "ASIC now has the privilege of being the only approved local Saudi manufacturer of air coolers with complete, end-to-end manufacturing capabilities." Chart owns a 34% interest in the ASIC joint venture. The other joint venture partners are S&A Abahsain Company of Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia and Specialized Industrial Equipment of Houston, Texas.

"As the slowdown in the world's economy nears its end and Saudi Arabia gears up for the inevitable upturn, we see great opportunities for ASIC," stated Durkin. "These opportunities stem from significant investments expected in the energy, petrochem, and power sectors in coming years. ASIC intends to play a significant role in delivering products to meet the needs in this region."

Certain statements made in this news release are or imply forward-looking statements, such as statements concerning business plans, objectives, market trends, future revenue, performance, and other information that is not historical in nature. These statements are made based on Chart management's expectations concerning future events and are subject to factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, such as cyclicality of product markets, a delay or reduction in customer purchases, fluctuations in energy prices, competition, the negative impacts of the recent global economic and financial crisis, and economic, political, business and market risks associated with global operations. For a discussion of these and additional factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements, see Chart's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Item 1A - Risk Factors, of Chart's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Chart is a leading global manufacturer of highly engineered equipment used in the production, storage and end-use of hydrocarbon and industrial gases. The majority of Chart's products are used throughout the liquid gas supply chain for purification, liquefaction, distribution, storage and end-use applications, the largest portion of which are energy-related. Chart has domestic operations located throughout the United States and an international presence in Asia, Australia and Europe. For more information, visit: http://www.chart-ind.com.

For more information, click here: http://www.chart-ind.com/investor_relations.cfm/?b=1444&I=1

CONTACT:  Chart Cooler Service Company, Inc.
          Greg Lukeman 
          918-621-5232
          greg.lukeman@chart-ind.com