BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 20, 2004--The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR) today announced that it has opened an office in Baghdad to support its increasing activity in Iraq including anticipated U.S. government projects under the $1.5 billion U.S. Central Command award announced in January 2004. The facility will also support projects for the Iraqi ministries and other clients located throughout the Middle East.

The Baghdad office is currently supporting an approximately $47 million task order in Iraq for facility upgrades, installation of utilities and other infrastructure improvements. The task order was awarded under the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE), Worldwide Environmental Remediation and Construction services contract. The Shaw Group was selected among several companies to perform a full range of integrated environmental and construction services under the AFCEE contract, which was awarded in December 2003. The new office presently employs a workforce of approximately 1,200, including Shaw personnel and Iraqi subcontractors.

"The Shaw Group has focused on forming strong partnerships and a broad spectrum of capabilities and resources in Iraq. With these strategic advantages in place, we are now competitively positioned to win and successfully execute projects in this region," stated J.M. Bernhard, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to establish the proper infrastructure to sustain the anticipated workload and to contribute to the rebuilding efforts in Iraq."

The Shaw Group Inc. is a leading global provider of engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, fabrication, manufacturing, consulting, remediation, and facilities management services for government and private sector clients in the power, process, environmental, infrastructure and homeland defense markets. The Company is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and employs approximately 15,000 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.shawgrp.com.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for certain forward-looking statements. The statements contained herein that are not historical facts (including without limitation statements to the effect that the Company or its management "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," or other similar expressions) and statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog, or other financial information or results are forward-looking statements based on the Company's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions and are subject to change based upon various factors. Should one or more of such risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements can be found in the Company's reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports, and on the Company's website under the heading "Forward Looking Statement". These documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw. For more information on the company and announcements it makes from time to time on a regional basis visit our website at www.shawgrp.com.

    CONTACT: The Shaw Group Inc., Baton Rouge
             Laurie LaChiusa, 225-932-2500
    SOURCE: The Shaw Group Inc.