Joint press release from Borouge and The Linde Group: Borouge awards USD 1.075 billion contract for ethane cracker in Abu Dhabi to The Linde Group

* Borouge awards contract for construction of an ethane cracker
worth USD 1.075 billion to The Linde Group
* Third ethane cracker in Abu Dhabi, also one of the world's
largest, will have an annual production capacity of 1.5 million
tonnes of ethylene
* Contract marks the first major milestone and confirms Borouge's
commitment to its Borouge 3 expansion

Abu Dhabi/Munich, 2 July 2009 - Borouge, a leading provider of
innovative, value creating plastics solutions, has awarded a contract
worth USD 1.075 billion to The Linde Group, a world leading gases and
engineering company, to build another 1.5 million tonnes per year
(t/y) ethane cracker at its production site in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates.

"The awarding of this contract confirms Borouge's commitment to the
Borouge 3 project, a major expansion of our production facility in
Ruwais, which will increase the total capacity of the plant to 4.5
million tonnes of polyolefins annually by the end of 2013," says
Abdulaziz Alhajri, CEO of Abu Dhabi Polymers Company (Borouge). "In
addition to the ethane cracker, the expansion includes the
construction of second generation Borstar® polypropylene and
polyethylene units, a low density polyethylene unit and a Butene
unit, as well as related off-site utilities and marine facilities."

"Nowhere else in the world has a petrochemical company installed so
much olefins capacity in such a short time as Borouge is currently
doing in Abu Dhabi," says Dr Aldo Belloni, member of the Executive
Board of Linde AG. "We at Linde Engineering are proud to be the
supplier of ethylene technology for the Ruwais complex. Our
relationship with ADNOC, enriched by our gases joint venture
'Elixier', and Borealis is now stronger than ever, thus making The
Linde Group the leading gases and engineering company in the Middle
East."

The contract will be executed on a 'lump sum turnkey' basis whereby
the construction work will be executed by the Consolidated
Contractors Company (CCC). The new cracker, the third of its kind to
be built by The Linde Group for Borouge in one decade, complements
the 600,000 t/y and 1.5 million t/y ethane crackers, the latter of
which is currently under construction as part of the plant's
expansion from 600,000 to 2 million t/y of polyolefins by mid-2010,
and ultimately 4.5 million tonnes of polyolefins annually by 2013.

After completion of the new cracker, Borouge will have the world's
largest ethane cracker complex, setting a new benchmark for the
industry.

Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company
(ADNOC), one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, and
Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics
solutions. The awarding of the contract is a major milestone in the
Company's growth strategy in the infrastructure, automotive and
advanced packaging markets in the Middle East and Asia, and is an
important step in the development of the Abu Dhabi petrochemicals
landscape.

Borouge and Borealis are leading providers of innovative, value
creating plastics solutions. With more than 40 years of experience in
polyolefins and using our unique Borstar® technology, we focus on the
infrastructure, automotive and advanced packaging markets. We have
production facilities, innovation centres and service centres across
Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific and work with customers in
more than 170 countries around the world to provide plastic materials
that make an essential contribution to society and to sustainable
development. We are committed to the principles of Responsible Care®
and to leading the way in 'Shaping the Future with Plastics(TM)'.

For more information on Borealis and Borouge, a joint venture between
Borealis and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), visit
www.borouge.com and www.borealisgroup.com

The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with
almost 52,000 employees working in around 100 countries worldwide. In
the 2008 financial year it achieved sales of EUR 12.7 billion. The
strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable
earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its
international business with forward-looking products and services.
Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners,
employees, society and the environment - in every one of its business
areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to
technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and
sustainable development.

For more information, see The Linde Group online at
http://www.linde.com

For additional information:

Borouge
Craig Halgreen
Vice President Global Communications
Telephone: +971.2.6070-807
Email craig.halgreen@borouge.com

The Linde Group
Press Investor Relations
Stefan Metz Robert Schneider
Telephone: +49.89.35757-1322 Telephone: +49.89.35757-1332
Email stefan.metz@linde.com Email robert.scheider@linde.com

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