Segments (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Segment Reporting (Tables) [Abstract]

Schedule of Segment Reporting Information by Segment Table

Sales and operating profit by segment for the quarters ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 are shown below. For a description of Praxair's operating segments, refer to Note 18 to the consolidated financial statements of Praxair's 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

	Quarter Ended March 31,
(Millions of dollars)	2012	2011 (b)
SALES(a)
North America	$ 1,398	$ 1,325
Europe	377	345
South America	562	558
Asia	334	317
Surface Technologies	169	157
	$ 2,840	$ 2,702
OPERATING PROFIT
North America	$ 361	$ 312
Europe	68	68
South America	115	133
Asia	57	53
Surface Technologies	26	25
Total operating profit	$ 627	$ 591

• Intersegment sales, primarily from North America to other segments, were not significant for the periods ended March 31, 2012 and 2011.
• During the 2012 first quarter, Praxair changed the measurement of its segment sales and operating profit to be based on the country in which the customer is domiciled instead of where the company's selling subsidiary is domiciled. The company believes these changes better represent the sales and profitability by geographic segment. These changes primarily relate to helium and specialty gas sales and result in slightly higher sales and operating profit in the Europe and Asia segment with offsetting declines in the North America segment. Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation.