JEDDAH, 29 July 2005 — The Eastern Petrochemical Company (Sharq), subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industry Corporation (SABIC), signed three letters of content with international companies that would increase its production by 2.8 billion metric tons. The three international companies - Stone Webster of Britain, Samsung Engineering of Korean and Linde of Germany - would design, supply and establish the expansion factories within Sharq complex at Jubail Industrial City and is expected to begin production during the first half of 2008. Mohammed Al-Mady, vice chairman and CEO of SABIC, said that this expansion will bolster Sharq’s position as the largest single complex for producing glycol ethylene in the world and SABIC’s position among the largest international petrochemical companies producing this product taking it from second place to first once the new factories go into production.