BATON ROUGE, La.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 28, 2005–The Shaw Group
Inc. (NYSE: SGR) today announced that its Shaw Stone & Webster unit
has signed a letter of intent with Eastern Petrochemical Co., also
known as SHARQ, for engineering, procurement, construction, and
commissioning of a 1.3 million metric tons-per-year ethylene plant
utilizing Shaw Stone & Webster ethylene technology. Under the letter
of intent, Shaw will immediately begin the engineering and procurement
activities. The plant will be located in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia and
is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2008. The value of
the project was not disclosed.
J.M. Bernhard, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Shaw,
said, “Our global reach and proprietary technologies continue to
create business opportunities in every corner of the world. Shaw is
very pleased to have been selected to provide its proprietary ethylene
technology and engineering and construction expertise to this
important project. This premier facility will be one of the largest in
the world and will enhance SHARQ’s leadership position in the
petrochemical arena.”
Ethylene is an intermediate petroleum product primarily used in
the production of other chemicals, particularly plastics, including
polyethylene and polypropylene, the world’s most widely used plastic.
The 1.3 million metric tons-per-year plant will provide ethylene for
an ethylene-glycol plant and a polyethylene plant at the same
location.
SHARQ, a joint venture equally owned by Saudi Basic Industries
Corporation and SPDC Ltd, a Japanese consortium led by the government
of Japan and the Mitsubishi group of companies.
Shaw Stone & Webster is an established leader in the world of
ethylene technology, having provided technology, design, engineering
and/or construction on more than 120 ethylene plants worldwide.
Approximately 35 percent of the world’s incremental production during
the last decade has been based on Shaw Stone & Webster technology.
Ethylene plants using Shaw Stone and Webster technology have
established a worldwide reputation for exceptionally high operational
reliability, rapid startup and superior performance. Earlier this
year, Shaw Stone & Webster completed a 600,000 metric ton-per-year
ethylene plant that it engineered and constructed in Nanjing, China
for BASF-YPC.
The Shaw Group Inc. is a leading global provider of technology,
engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, fabrication,
manufacturing, consulting, remediation, and facilities management
services for the energy, chemicals, environmental, infrastructure and
emergency response markets. With over $3 billion in revenues, Shaw is
headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and employs approximately
18,000 people at its offices and operations in North America, South
America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. The
Company was recently named for the second consecutive year to Fortune
magazine’s annual list of “America’s Most Admired Companies”. For
further information, please visit Shaw’s website at www.shawgrp.com.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a
“safe harbor” for certain forward-looking statements. The statements
contained herein that are not historical facts (including without
limitation statements to the effect that the Company or its management
“believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “plans,” or other similar
expressions) and statements related to revenues, earnings, backlog, or
other financial information or results are forward-looking statements
based on the Company’s current expectations and beliefs concerning
future developments and their potential effects on the Company. There
can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company
will be those anticipated by the Company. These forward-looking
statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which
are beyond our control) and assumptions and are subject to change
based upon various factors. Should one or more of such risks or
uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove
incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those
projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise. A description of some of the risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from such
forward-looking statements can be found in the Company’s reports and
registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including its Form 10-K and Form 10-Q reports, and on the
Company’s website under the heading “Forward-Looking Statements”.
These documents are also available from the Securities and Exchange
Commission or from the Investor Relations department of Shaw. For more
information on the company and announcements it makes from time to
time on a regional basis visit our website at www.shawgrp.com.
CONTACT: The Shaw Group Inc.
Chris D. Sammons, 225-932-2546
SOURCE: The Shaw Group Inc.