Ad-hoc | 21 March 2005 17:41

BP ANNOUNCES NEW IDENTITY FOR PETROCHEMICALS COMPANY

Ad hoc announcement §15 WpHG BP ANNOUNCES NEW IDENTITY FOR PETROCHEMICALS COMPANY Ad hoc announcement processed and transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— BP ANNOUNCES NEW IDENTITY FOR PETROCHEMICALS COMPANY BP announced today that the name of its new olefins and derivatives subsidiary will be Innovene. Innovene will be formed as a separate entity within the BP Group in April, with more than $9 billion in assets and $15 billion in third-party sales globally. The new company will be headquartered in Chicago and have more than 8,500 employees at 26 principal sites around the world. “Innovene combines the best in our BP heritage with the focus and discipline of being independent. Our new name speaks to our aspiration to challenge ourselves and the status quo in our sector,” said Ralph Alexander, CEO. “Like BP, we are a truly global company, with major operations in Asia, North America and Europe.” The choice of name for Innovene was built upon interviews and research conducted among the company’s employees, customers and industry analysts worldwide. Innovene will be among the five largest petrochemical companies in the world and a Fortune 150-scale company, with global production of more than 15 million tonnes of petrochemicals a year. Notes to editors: – Innovene’s new company’s logo can be downloaded from: http://www.innovene.com/innovene/images/innovene_logo_jpeg.zip – Innovene (http://www.innovene.com) will be created as a wholly owned subsidiary of BP on April 1, 2005. BP expects to sell the company later in 2005, possibly by way of an IPO, subject to necessary approvals and market conditions. – Innovene’s major manufacturing sites include Grangemouth in Scotland, Lavéra in France, Köln in Germany and Lima, Chocolate Bayou and Green Lake in the US. SECCO, the joint venture with Sinopec and SPC in Shanghai and the largest petrochemical complex in China to date, is due to become fully operational in the next few months. – Innovene manufacturers petrochemicals, including olefins (ethylene and propylene) and their derivatives such as polyethylene, polypropylene, acrylonitrile, linear alpha olefins, polyalphaolefins, and solvents, as well as gasoline, diesel and other refined products made in the Grangemouth and Lavéra refineries. These chemicals are used to make a wide variety of plastic goods, including food and drink containers and wrappings, pipe work, automotive parts and mouldings of all kinds. Further media enquiries: Ben Moxham, Innovene. Tel +44 798 956 6560 Robert Wine, BP. Tel: +44 (0)20 7496 4827. BP p.l.c. 1 St James’s Square London, SW1Y 4PD United Kingdom ISIN: GB0007980591 WKN: 850517 Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Düsseldorf (Dt. Zertifikate DE0008618737), Frankfurt (General Standard) und Hamburg; Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart End of ad hoc announcement (c)DGAP 21.03.2005 211741 Mär 05