BASF agrees to sell its minority ownership interest in Geismar, LA ethane cracker and associated facilities

Florham Park, NJ, June 22, 2007 -- BASF Corporation today announced that it has agreed to sell its minority ownership interest in a 610,000 tons per year ethane cracker and associated pipeline and storage facilities located in Geismar, Louisiana. Subject to regulatory approvals, Williams Olefins, L.L.C., will purchase BASF’s ownership interest in the cracker and PetroLogistics, LLC, will purchase BASF’s interest in the associated pipeline and storage facilities. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. Closing is expected to take place in July.

The ethane cracker is jointly owned by GE Petrochemicals, Williams Olefins, L.L.C. and BASF, and operated by Williams Olefins, L.L.C. The pipeline and storage facilities are jointly owned by GE Petrochemicals, PetroLogistics, LLC, and BASF, and operated by PetroLogistics.

BASF purchased its ownership stake in the cracker and associated facilities in 1970 as part of its acquisition of Wyandotte Chemicals. Each owner supplies raw materials to the cracker and independently markets its share of production from the cracker.

"BASF’s strategy to more closely balance olefins supply capability with captive demand is well served by our world-scale joint venture naphtha steam cracker in Port Arthur, Texas, reducing the strategic importance of the Geismar ethane cracker to BASF," said Peter Cella, NAFTA Group Vice President, Petrochemicals. "We believe our investment in the Port Arthur cracker and the latest technology deployed at this facility will provide BASF with a sustainable first quartile competitive position in the marketplace."

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products, agricultural products and fine chemicals to crude oil and natural gas. As a reliable partner to virtually all industries, BASF’s high-value products and intelligent system solutions help its customers to be more successful. BASF develops new tech-nologies and uses them to meet the challenges of the future and open up ad-ditional market opportunities. It combines economic success with environ-mental protection and social responsibility, thus contributing to a better future. BASF has approximately 95,000 employees and posted sales of €52.6 billion (approximately $66.1 billion) in 2006. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

P-IR-0622