BOROUGE DEVELOPING INTO WORLD SCALE PETROCHEMICAL COMPLEX
15 December 2003 - Borealis A/S

Building on the successful start up and first two years of operation, increasing market demand for enhanced polyolefins and more feedstock becoming available, the next steps are underway to expand the Borouge petrochemical complex.

Borouge will invest USD 40 million to debottleneck the existing Borstar enhanced
polyethylene (PE) capacity from 450,000 to 580,000 tonnes per annum. The project, which includes expansion of material handling facilities, is to be completed by Q2 2005. In addition, Borouge will assume full off take of the existing 600,000 tonnes per annum ethylene cracker.

To further develop Borouge, its owners, ADNOC and Borealis, earlier this year signed a Memorandum of Understanding and are proceeding with a feasibility study for a new world scale cracker and downstream polyolefin plants. The expansion is based on two ADNOC natural gas developments in Abu Dhabi, equivalent to approximately 1.4 million tonnes ethylene. Conclusions are likely to be made during 2004 with expected start-up of the new plants in 2008.

“We have successfully positioned our products in the targeted markets and applications. Our customers are extremely satisfied with the superior quality of our enhanced PE products using Borealis’ bimodal Borstar technology,” says Hubert Puchner, Chief Executive Officer of
Borouge Pte Ltd., “We are looking forward to offering more of these valuable products to the market. The demand for polyolefins in the Middle East and Asia is expected to grow annually between 6% and 8% until the year 2010”.

“The petrochemical industry never stands still,” Harri Bucht, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Polymers Co. Ltd (Borouge) comments. ”Borouge has performed beyond expectations to date with the polyethylene plants already exceeding their nameplate capacity. By expanding our olefins and polyolefins production, we will achieve greater cost efficiency and sharpen our competitive edge. The planned expansions are a major step in developing Borouge into a leading polyolefins company in the Middle East based on a world scale petrochemical complex.”

Borouge’s owners bring complimentary strengths to the joint venture with ADNOC providing resources and expertise in the feedstock area along with local market knowledge and relationships. Building on a strong platform in the oil and gas industry, these announcements further demonstrate ADNOC’s continued focus on downstream petrochemical activities in
Abu Dhabi and commitment to polyolefins. Borealis provides olefins and polyolefins technology coupled with commercial and operational expertise.

“The Borouge expansion plans represent a further strengthening of our partnership with ADNOC,“ says Borealis’ Chief Executive John Taylor. “The significant growth plans for Borouge will reinforce Borealis’ presence in the Middle East and Asia. This is a core element in Borealis’ strategy of becoming a leading, profitable integrated polyolefins supplier.' John Taylor concludes.

http://www.borealisgroup.com

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