Advanced Refining Technologies to Invest in Kuwait Catalyst Company.

COLUMBIA, Md. -- Advanced Refining Technologies (ART), a joint venture between W. R. Grace & Co. (NYSE:GRA) and Chevron U.S.A. Inc., has taken an ownership position in Kuwait Catalyst Company (KCC), located in Shuaiba, Kuwait. Details of the investment are not being disclosed.

According to Robert H. Bullard, managing director of ART, "This investment is part of an alliance that expands ART's manufacturing and supply capacity for hydroprocessing catalysts in the Middle East and, along with ART's ongoing investments in existing facilities, allows it to meet hydroprocessing catalyst capacity requirements in the near term. KCC, which serves the petroleum refining industry in the Arabian Gulf region, provides ART with a strategic position in one of the most high-growth oil refining sectors in the world."

Rafid Al-Rifai, chairman of KCC, stated, "We have manufactured residuum hydroprocessing catalysts commercially since 2001 for our own market in the region, and have manufactured for ART since January 2006. Residuum hydroprocessing catalysts help refiners produce environmentally friendly and cleaner-burning transportation fuels by removing sulfur and other contaminants from petroleum."

The ART investment also strengthens the existing commercial relationship between ART, KCC and the Japan Energy Corporation, a supplier of fuel and gas, ART and KCC's current partner for HOP([TM]) hydroprocessing catalysts in the Middle East and Asia.

Advanced Refining Technologies, the hydroprocessing joint venture of Grace and Chevron, is a leading supplier of hydroprocessing catalysts to the worldwide petroleum refining industry.