Washington Group International Plans to Provide New Generation Services at Canadian Oil Sands Facility

BOISE, Idaho and EDMONTON, Canada, March 19  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Washington Group International (NASDAQ:WGII) announced today that its Canadian subsidiary, Washington Group Northern Ltd., has been contracted by Suncor Energy Services Inc. to provide detailed engineering, procurement, and construction services for a gas-fired cogeneration project in support of the development of Suncor's Firebag oil sands reserves in the Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada.  The Firebag site is located approximately 310 miles north of Edmonton, Alberta.

Under this contract, Washington Group plans to execute the Firebag Stage 3 cogeneration project in concert with Canonbie Contracting Limited, an Edmonton-based construction contractor.  Washington Group is expected to provide overall project management, engineering, procurement, and commissioning/startup for the cogeneration facility, four substations, and five miles of 144-kilovolt transmission lines.  Washington Group and Canonbie will provide construction management and construction services.

When complete, the facility is expected to generate 160 megawatts of electricity and 400,000 pounds per hour of wet steam.  The steam is intended for use at Suncor's Firebag in-situ operation to facilitate the extraction of bitumen from the oil sands.  The electricity is planned to be used at the Firebag Project and at Suncor's main plant near Ft. McMurray, Alberta. Construction plans for Suncor's third stage of the Firebag project are still subject to approval from Suncor's Board of Directors; a decision regarding construction start-up is expected midyear.

"Washington Group is an industry leader in gas-fired cogeneration," said Lou Pardi, president of the company's Power Business Unit, headquartered in Princeton, N.J.  "Suncor's selection of Washington Group for this critical project recognizes our proven performance in power and Alberta oil sands projects, the quality of engineering and construction resources that we can bring to these projects, and our extensive experience with the specific gas turbine technology Suncor chose.  These projects are large, complex, and remote and require excellent management, engineering, and construction skills. Our people have the talent and the tools to deliver.

"Washington Group International is committed to serving the needs of the developers and operators in the Alberta oil sands -- from power to mining to infrastructure.  The Athabasca oil sands reserve is not only the second largest oil reserve in the world, but also is of vital importance to Canada and the energy security of North America."

Engineering work for the project is under way at Washington Group's Denver, Colo., office. Pre-work will begin this year, and completion of the facility is scheduled for 2009.

Suncor Energy Services Inc. is an integrated energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.  Suncor's oil sands business, located near Fort McMurray, Alberta, extracts and upgrades oil sands and markets refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, while operations throughout Western Canada produce natural gas. Suncor operates a refining and marketing business in Ontario with retail distribution under the Sunoco brand.  U.S. downstream assets include refining operations in Colorado and retail sales in the Denver area under the Phillips 66 brand.

Washington Group International (NASDAQ:WGII) provides the talent, innovation, and proven performance to deliver integrated engineering, construction, and management solutions for businesses and governments worldwide.  Headquartered in Boise, Idaho, with more than $3 billion in annual revenue, the company has approximately 25,000 people at work around the world providing solutions in power, environmental management, defense, oil and gas processing, mining, industrial facilities, transportation, and water resources.  For more information, visit http://www.wgint.com/.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as may, will, could, should, expect, anticipate, intend, plan, estimate, or continue or the negative thereof or other variations thereof.  Each forward-looking statement, including, without limitation, any financial guidance, speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and Washington Group undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances.  The forward-looking statements are necessarily based on assumptions and estimates of management and are inherently subject to various risks and uncertainties.  Actual results may vary materially as a result of changes or developments in social, economic, business, market, legal, and regulatory circumstances or conditions, both domestically and globally, as well as due to actions by customers, clients, suppliers, business partners, or government bodies.  Performance is subject to numerous factors, including demand for new power generation and for modification of existing power facilities, public sector funding, demand for extractive resources, capital spending plans of customers, and spending levels and priorities of the U.S., state and other governments.  Results may also vary as a result of difficulties or delays experienced in the execution of contracts or implementation of strategic initiatives.  For additional risks and uncertainties impacting the forward-looking statements contained in this news release, please see "Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in Washington Group's annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2006. 

DATASOURCE: Washington Group International



CONTACT:  Media, Jerry Holloway or Laurie Spiegelberg, [phone],

or Investors, Earl Ward, [phone], all of Washington Group

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Web site:  http://www.wgint.com/ 

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