Fitch Ratings Affirms Ratings of Sunoco, Inc.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 2003

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Sunoco Inc.'s senior unsecured debt rating of 'BBB'. In addition, Fitch has also affirmed the company's subordinated debt rating of 'BBB-' as well as its commercial paper rating of 'F2'. The Rating Outlook remains Stable.

Sunoco announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Equistar Chemicals, L.P. to form a limited partnership involving Equistar's LaPorte, Texas ethylene facility to supply Sunoco 700 million pounds-per-year of propylene under a 15-year contract favorable to Sunoco. In addition, Sunoco is purchasing Equistar's 400 million pound-per-year Bayport polypropylene plant. In total, Sunoco will be paying $190 million for the propylene partnership and the Bayport plant plus the cost of polypropylene inventory. The transaction is expected to close by March 31, 2003.

Fitch views the Equistar transaction as a positive, further solidifying Sunoco's position as one of the largest producers of polypropylene in the United States. The supply contract with Equistar secures a steady supply of propylene for Sunoco's LaPorte polypropylene facilities. Including the Epsilon joint venture, Sunoco has more than 2 billion pounds of polypropylene capacity and over 7.5 billion pounds of petrochemical capacity.

Sunoco remains in a strong financial position in spite of the downturn in the refining cycle in 2002. At year-end, Sunoco had $390 million of cash on hand and no borrowings under its $770 million revolving credit facility or its $200 million receivable securitization program. Balance sheet debt totaled $1.46 billion at year-end, including $65 million of revolver debt and $250 million of long-term notes by the Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. The Sunoco Logistics debt is not guaranteed by Sunoco, Inc.

Based on Fitch's forecasts for 2003, credit protection as measured by EBITDA-to-interest should approach 6.0 times (x) with debt-to-EBITDA of under 3.0x. Should strong refining margins continue into the summer driving season, credit protection could be significantly stronger. Margins across the petrochemical industry remain weak with a sustainable recovery being delayed due to uncertainty in the economy, continued over-capacity and high feedstock prices.

Sunoco is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners and marketers in the United States. The company operates four light sweet crude oil refineries with a rated capacity of 730,000 barrels per day and markets gasoline through over 4,400 outlets along the East Coast and in the Midwest. Sunoco produced over 7.0 billion pounds of petrochemicals in 2002, predominately chemical intermediates. The company also operates coke-making facilities in Virginia and Indiana and currently owns approximately 75% of Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P.