EXHIBIT 99

                                                          [Ashland Logo]
NEWS FROM ASHLAND

                                               FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
  
                                                Chuck Rice
                                                (606) 329-3895

                                               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                                 May 10, 1995

ASHLAND INC. TO TAKE ONE-TIME CHARGE
FOR ASHLAND PETROLEUM COMPANY REORGANIZATION

Ashland, Ky. - Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) announced today that Ashland Petroleum
Company,  the  corporation's  largest  division,   has  announced  a  sweeping
management re-organization intended to position the company for success in the
extremely  competitive  refining  business.  The program  includes  adopting a
cross-functional   management   concept  and  instituting  an  enhanced  early
retirement  program with a goal of eliminating 250 positions.  If this goal is
not  achieved  through  the  early  retirement  program  then  an  involuntary
work force reduction will be necessary.
         Ashland Inc. expects to record a one-time, pre-tax charge of
approximately $25 million in fiscal 1995.
         Under  the  re-organization,  Robert E.  Yancey  remains  as  Ashland
Petroleum president and senior vice president of Ashland Inc. D. Duane Gilliam
has  been  named  executive  vice  president,   petroleum  operations  and  is
responsible  for  day-to-day  strategic  and  tactical  decisions  across  all
strategic business units of the company.
         "With continued  excess refining  capacity in the U.S., these changes
are  necessary,"  Yancey  said.  "Now  and  in  the  future,   efficiency  and
flexibility will determine  success in the petroleum  refining  business.  The
ability to make decisions  that quickly and accurately  reflect the commercial
realities  of  the  marketplace   and  implement   those   decisions   through
cross-functional  teams  should  significantly  improve our  performance  over
time."
         Ashland Inc. is a worldwide energy and chemical company engaged in
petroleum refining, transportation and wholesale marketing; retail
gasoline  marketing;  motor  oil and  lubricant  marketing;  chemicals;  coal;
highway construction; and oil and gas exploration and production.