(Riyadh, 16 March, 2007) Mutlaq Al-Morished, Chairman of Yanbu National Petrochemical Company (YANSAB) and SABIC Vice President, Corporate Finance received yesterday (March 15, 2007) in Bahrain the `2006 Middle East Petrochemicals Deal of the Year’ award from the Euromoney Magazine.

Mutlaq Al-Morished said, “We completed many other projects successfully in 2006. However, the YANSAB project financing of SR 13.125 billion (US$3.5 billion) stood out for a number of reasons.”

YANSAB is the first company to have successfully closed an initial pubic offering at the inception stage in Saudi Arabia. The IPO for SR 1.969 billion (US$ 525 million) was closed before the debt financing. The YANSAB IPO was also awarded “IPO of the Year” by the Banker's Magazine.

The YANSAB financing includes the largest ever Islamic finance tranche of SR 3.176 billion (US$847 million) in any multi-sourced project financing globally. Through careful structuring and marketing to prospective lenders by SABIC and ABN AMRO, the sole financial advisor and underwriter, it was possible to achieve a level of Islamic participation significantly higher than for any previous project financing in Saudi Arabia.

The YANSAB petrochemical complex is currently under construction at Yanbu Industrial City on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia and is one of the world’s largest petrochemical complexes. It is expected to go on stream in 2009. YANSAB’s annual capacity will exceed four million metric tons of petrochemical products and this will enhance SABIC’s contribution to national development plans and strengthen its competitive position in world markets.

YANSAB’s product portfolio includes 1.3 million (mtpa) of Ethylene; 400,000 (mtpa) of Propylene; 900,000 of polyethylene, 400,000 (mtpa) of Polypropylene, 770,000 (mtpa) of Ethylene Glycol alongside 250,000 (mtpa) of Benzene, Xylene and Toluene mixtures, 100,000 (mtpa) of Butane-1 and Butane-2 and other products.

Othman Al-Humaidi
General Manager, Corporate Communications