May 11, 2006 – Basell has signed a joint venture agreement with Tasnee & Sahara Olefins Company for the construction of a new integrated ethylene and polyethylene complex at
Al-Jubail Industrial City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The complex will include a gas cracker and two 400 KT per year polyethylene plants. One plant, based on Basell’s latest generation Hostalen process, will produce high density polyethylene; the other plant, based on Basell’s Lupotech T technology, will produce low density polyethylene.  Scheduled to start up in 2008, the units will be the largest Hostalen and Lupotech T process plants in the world.

Basell will have a 25% equity share in the project, while Tasnee & Sahara Olefins Company will hold the remaining equity. Tasnee & Sahara Olefins Company is a recently established joint stock company. Its main shareholders are Tasnee Petrochemicals and Sahara Petrochemical Company with a minor shareholding by the Saudi Arabian General Organisation for Social Insurance (GOSI).

“Basell and Tasnee Petrochemicals have already another joint venture, Saudi Polyolefins Company, which includes a 450 KT per year polypropylene plant in Saudi Arabia,” said Volker Trautz, CEO of Basell, who participated in a signing ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  “Following the excellent success of this joint venture, we look forward to extending our cooperation into polyethylene.”

Volker Trautz expressed his appreciation to Sahara Petrochemical Company which is also a major shareholder in this project. Sahara Petrochemical Company and Basell are currently developing a new 450 KT per year Spherizone polypropylene plant and propane dehydrogenation unit in Al-Jubail.

Trautz said, “The implementation of this major ethylene and polyethylene complex with the combined strengths of Tasnee, Sahara and Basell will create a world-class facility with competitive feedstock and operating costs as well as sustainable product property advantages in an increasingly competitive world market. Basell is the largest polyethylene producer in Europe, and this project is part of our strategy to expand our geographic presence by establishing, together with strong local partners, new world-class manufacturing facilities with attractive feedstock conditions in close proximity to target markets.”

Just Jansz, President of Basell’s Technology Business, said, “Basell’s latest generation Hostalen technology can produce high performance multi-modal HDPE. These grades offer advantages in demanding applications such as caps and closures and blow molding, as well as in specialty films, which are among the fastest growing applications in the Middle East.”

Lupotech T is a high pressure tubular reactor process for the production of LDPE.  “The Lupotech T technology has a long and successful history, but recent advances have further enhanced its competitiveness,” Jansz said. “The process features broad product capability, high conversion rates and stable and flexible operation.”

Basell’s complete portfolio of licensed technologies includes:

• Spheripol – polypropylene technology for the production of homopolymer, random and heterophasic copolymers.
• Spherizone – next generation polypropylene technology based on new multi-zone reactor technology.
• Spherilene – swing gas phase process for the production of LLDPE and HDPE.
• Hostalen - low-pressure slurry process for the production of bimodal HDPE.
• Lupotech T – high pressure tubular reactor process for the production of LDPE and EVA copolymers.

Basell also produces and commercialises advanced catalyst systems which are sold under the Avant trade name.

Basell is the world's largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefin products, a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and a global leader in the development and licensing of polypropylene and polyethylene processes. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities around the world and sells products in more than 120 countries. Additional information about Basell is available at www.basell.com.

For more information contact Chantal Sohm, Basell Corporate Communications, at +33 1 555 12 119 or chantal.sohm@basell.com