BP Amoco and ExxonMobil to Dissolve European Joint Venture

Irving, Texas and London (PROTEXT) - BP Amoco p.l.c. and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) announced today that they have mutually agreed on the principles under which they will dissolve the Mobil-BP Amoco European fuels and lubricants joint venture in response to the European Commission's authorization of the Exxon and Mobil merger. Under the agreement, which is subject to a number of approvals and appropriate employee consultation, BP Amoco will purchase Mobil's 30 percent interest in the fuels business for about $1.5 billion, subject to adjustments. The agreement also includes the transfer of Mobil's interests in certain pipelines serving Gatwick airport. In addition, the two companies will divide the assets of the lubricants business broadly in line with their equity stakes (51 percent Mobil, 49 percent BP Amoco). "It took a significant amount of dedication and effort on the parts of BP and Mobil employees to develop and then make this joint venture a success. However, in this highly competitive industry BP Amoco and ExxonMobil have each found new opportunities for the next century. This required us to bring the venture to a mutually beneficial close," said BP Amoco Chief Executive Sir John Browne and ExxonMobil Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lee Raymond. "We will end our relationship in a way that brings fair value to both companies for the assets involved and allows both of us to continue to provide our customers with high-quality products and service." The fuels part of the venture, operated by BP Amoco, currently operates around 8,500 service stations across Europe, representing about 12 percent of the market, while the lubricants part of the venture, operated by ExxonMobil, has a market share of just over 18 percent in Europe. Under the outline agreement announced today, BP Amoco will receive the service stations, fuels refineries at Grangemouth and Coryton, UK; Lavera, France; Nerefco, The Netherlands; and Castellon, Spain; as well as the shareholdings in the Turkish Mersin, French Reichstett and German Bayernoil refineries. Mobil will receive the fuels refinery at Gravenchon. On the lubricants side, ExxonMobil will receive the Dunkirk refinery in France and the lubricants leg at Gravenchon. BP Amoco will retain the base oil refinery in Neuhof, Germany, and the lubricants leg of Coryton, together with the blending plants at Neuhof, Ghent in Belgium, Gemlik in Turkey, Batsons in the UK and 45 percent share of the Turkish Serviburnu plant. The remaining 10 lubricant blending plants will be part of the ExxonMobil portfolio. The companies have also agreed in principle to the following general provisions for the marketing of lubricants in Europe. BP Amoco will receive: -- All the lubricant marketing businesses in Portugal, Spain, Greece, Gibraltar and Malta, including the Mobil branded business and the Mobil brand for an interim period, -- All the direct commercial vehicle lubricants business throughout Europe, including the Mobil branded business and the Mobil brand for an interim period, -- All the BP and Duckhams branded passenger vehicle lubricant business throughout Europe, and -- All distributor relationships associated with the BP and Duckhams brands. ExxonMobil will receive: (outside of Portugal, Spain, Greece, Gibraltar and Malta) -- All the direct industrial lubricants businesses, including the BP and Duckhams branded businesses, -- All the Mobil-branded passenger vehicle lubricants business, and -- All distributor relationships associated with the Mobil brand. ExxonMobil and BP Amoco said that they do not expect the termination of the joint venture to have a significant direct impact on staffing levels. Assuming that all the necessary approvals are received, the effective date for the implementation of the final agreement, will be January 1, 2000. Notes to Editors: Under the European joint venture, announced in February 1996, BP and Mobil combined their downstream assets establishing operating partnerships for fuels and for lubricants in each country where the companies were active. The joint venture excluded the operations of both companies which had activities in Europe but operated globally, such as international trading, aviation, marine, shipping and gas marketing. Exploration and production and chemicals were also excluded. ots Original Text Service: Exxon Mobil Corporation Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: Media Relations of Exxon Mobil Corporation, (USA) 703-846-2378; or Media Relations of BP Amoco p.l.c., 011-44-171-496-4358 Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/143842.html or fax, (USA) 800- 758-5804, ext. 143842 Web site: http://www.exxon.mobil.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT