EXHIBIT 99.(a)(5)


                         BP Completes Vastar Purchase

     Houston (Sept. 15) -- BP today announced completion of the purchase of
Vastar Resources, Inc. (VRI), following a favorable vote by VRI's minority
shareholders to accept BP's offer of $83 per share. BP already owned 81.8
percent of VRI shares, acquired when the company purchased ARCO earlier this
year. The cost of this purchase is approximately $1.5 billion.

     "The Vastar acquisition is a great strategic fit with our US upstream
portfolio", said David H. Welch, BP's Houston-based Vice President, Upstream.
"In the Mid Continent, the Rocky Mountains, the Gulf Coast, and the Continental
Shelf and Deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico, this acquisition strengthens
our oil and gas portfolio," Welch said.


                                       #

September 15, 2000

Contact:
Media - Pat Wright        Investors - Terry Lamore
        (281) 366-3705                (212) 451-8034