Hercules and Uniqema Announce Manufacturing Agreement.

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Hercules Incorporated (NYSE:HPC) and Uniqema, a business of ICI Americas, have agreed to extend their long-standing synthetic lubricants manufacturing agreement. Terms were not disclosed. To accommodate this manufacturing agreement, Hercules will initiate a plant expansion at the company's Louisiana, Missouri facility.

"This is a mutually beneficial multi-year agreement. We anticipate the expansion of our synthetic lubricants capacity will be completed by the second quarter of 2007," stated Paul Raymond, President, Hercules Paper Technologies and Ventures.

Mark A. Nehra, Product Manager-Americas, Uniqema remarked, "As an industry leader in the refrigeration lubricants market, this expansion demonstrates Uniqema's long-term commitment to this market."

Hercules manufactures and markets chemical specialties globally for making a variety of products for home, office and industrial markets. For more information, visit the Hercules web site at www.herc.com.

Uniqema is a global business of ICI offering a unique range of surfactants, functional ingredients and oleochemicals for use in every-day products that improve the quality of life. More information on Uniqema activities can be found at: www.uniqema.com.

This news release includes forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, reflecting management's current analysis and expectations, based on what management believes to be reasonable assumptions. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected, stated or implied, depending on such factors as: ability to generate cash, changes resulting from ongoing reviews of tax liabilities, ability to raise capital, ability to refinance, ability to execute productivity improvements and reduce costs, ability to execute and integrate acquisitions, ability to execute divestitures, ability to increase prices, ability to expand capacity, business climate, business performance, changes in tax laws or regulations and related liabilities, changes in tax rates, economic and competitive uncertainties, higher manufacturing costs, reduced level of customer orders, failure to obtain anticipated benefits, changes in strategies, risks in developing new products and technologies, risks in developing new market opportunities, environmental and safety regulations and clean-up costs, foreign exchange rates, asset dispositions, the impact of changes in the value of pension fund assets and liabilities, changes in generally accepted accounting principles, adverse legal and regulatory developments, including increases in the number or financial exposures of claims, lawsuits, settlements or judgments, the financial capacity of settling insurers, the impact of increased accruals and reserves for such exposures, the outcome of litigation and appeals, including the inability to obtain judicial review of adverse litigation results, and adverse changes in economic and political climates around the world, including terrorist activities, international hostilities and potential natural disasters. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Company will meet future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. As appropriate, additional factors are contained in other reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This paragraph is included to provide safe harbor for forward-looking statements, which are not generally required to be publicly revised as circumstances change, and which the Company does not intend to update.