NOVATEK Signs Marketing Agreement With Yeochun Naphtha Cracker Center

SINGAPORE and MOSCOW, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- OAO NOVATEK ("NOVATEK" or the "Company"), announced today the conclusion of a commercial agreement with the Yeochun Naphtha Cracker Center ("YNCC"), a South Korean petrochemical company, for supplying up to three hundred thousand tons of light naphtha produced at the Ust-Luga Gas Condensate Transshipment and Fractionation complex ("Complex") in 2013.

First Deputy Chairman of NOVATEK's Management Board, Mikhail Popov noted: "The contract with YNCC is another step in the expansion of customer portfolio for the Ust-Luga Complex guaranteeing sustainability of our integrated production chain."

Executive Vice President of YNCC, Paul Y. Joo commented: "NOVATEK has already worked out reliable logistics of product supplies to South Korea, and we are confident in the security of supply of the required volumes of naphtha as a feedstock for our production."

Note
The Ust-Luga complex includes facilities for transshipment and fractionation of stable gas condensate. The Complex will process up to six million tons of gas condensate per annum and produce light and heavy naphtha, diesel and jet fuel, as well as heating oil. NOVATEK is currently proceeding with commissioning tests at the first stage, which has a capacity of three million tons per annum. Construction works has also started at the second stage of the Complex. The Complex will allow the Company to enter new markets, expand its customer base and increase sales of higher value added products.

OAO NOVATEK is Russia's largest independent gas producer and the second-largest natural gas producer in Russia. Founded in 1994, the Company is engaged in the exploration, production, processing and marketing of natural gas and liquid hydrocarbons. The Company's upstream activities are concentrated in the prolific Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Region, which is the world's largest natural gas producing area and accounts for approximately 84% of Russia's natural gas production and approximately 17% of the world's gas production. NOVATEK is an open joint stock company established under the laws of the Russian Federation. The Company's shares are listed in Russia on MICEX-RTS Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under the ticker symbol "NVTK."

Yeochun Naphtha Cracker Center (South Korea) was established in 1999 and is involved in production of petrochemical products such as ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylene, etc. The annual product output at the three plants owned by the company amounts to 4.3 million tons.

SOURCE OAO Novatek