RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (November 22) - Jubail United Petrochemical Company (JUPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), signed a Letter of Intent yesterday to appoint Fluor Daniel Arabia Ltd. as the Program Management Services contractor for its new petrochemical complex to be built in Jubail Industrial City.

JUPC is SABIC's 17th world-scale manufacturing affiliate in Saudi Arabia. The integrated petrochemical complex is expected to come on stream in the second half of 2004, and will have production capacities of 1 million metric tons per year (mt/y) of ethylene, 460,000 mt/y of EG (ethylene glycol), 400,000 mt/y of HDPE (high density polyethylene) and 100,000 mt/y of LAO (Linear Alpha Olefins). Selection of process technologies is expected by the end of this year.

The Letter of Intent for the Program Management Services and OSBL (outside battery limit) work was signed in Al-Jubail Industrial City by Khalid S. Al-Rawaf, President of JUPC and PETROKEMYA (Arabian Petrochemical Company), and Colin Mckenzie, Vice President and General Manager of Fluor Daniel Arabia.

SABIC's Vice Chairman and Managing Director Mohamed H. Al-Mady has said that through JUPC, the company was seeking to further increase its global market share for polyethylene and ethylene glycol. "These are high-value product segments in Europe, Asia and other emerging markets. SABIC is already a major supplier of polyolefins and ethylene glycol and this project will help us to reinforce our position as a leading global petrochemical company," Al-Mady said.

He noted that SABIC was in a very favorable position to meet the growing demand for these products in terms of its access to feedstock resources, marketing position and financial strength. The new plants will employ state-of-the-art production technologies.

SABIC now accounts for nearly 20 percent of the world's total EG production, and supplies a full range of thermoplastic resins to world markets. These include LLDPE (linear low density polyethylene), LDPE (low density polyethylene), HDPE, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), polystyrene, polypropylene and polyesters for textiles, carpets and bottles.

Fluor Daniel, the engineering and construction unit of Fluor Corporation which is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, provides services on a global basis in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance and operations.

SABIC is Saudi Arabia's, and the Middle East's, largest non-oil industrial company. Its total production capacity of around 25 million metric tons in 1999 is scheduled to increase to 35 million metric tons this year with the commissioning of several expansion projects. SABIC's businesses are organized into five core groups - Basic Chemicals, Intermediate Chemicals, Polymers, Fertilizers and Metals.

-Ends-

Mohammad Al-Motawa
Vice President, Public Relations

© Press Release 2005