NEWS RELEASE

Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2005

Contact: Angie Joe
713.743.8153 (office)
713.617.7138 (pager)
ajoe@uh.edu
GOING DOWNSTREAM: UH-GEMI CONFERENCE
EXAMINES CHALLENGES OF THE PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY

While much of the energy sector prospers with rising oil and natural gas prices, the American petrochemical industry faces unprecedented challenges.

To assess the regional situation, the University of Houston’s Global Energy Management Institute (UH-GEMI) will host “The Future of the Gulf Coast Petrochemical Industry – A Timely Conference Posing the Difficult Questions for an Industry in Transition.” The conference featuring a slate of experts will be held April 29 at the Houstonian Hotel, 111 N. Post Oak Lane.

“Never has the long-term future of petrochemicals been more uncertain, as critics indicate that the industry has lost its competitive advantage and faces a future of minimal investment and large-scale restructuring,” said Steve Arbogast, UH-GEMI executive professor and former petrochemical industry executive. “The upcoming
UH-GEMI conference will help clarify the confusion and dispel the misconceptions.”

Selected discussion topics at the conference are the future of Gulf Coast petrochemical industry; demand growth in U.S. chemicals; the stabilization of natural gas prices; liquids’ effect on Gulf Coast petrochemicals; influence of Mexico and Venezuela on the industry; and the role of government.

Featured speakers include Jim Harris, senior vice president, ExxonMobil Chemical; Fran Keeth, president, Shell Chemical L.P.; Arnie Lowenstein, vice president of chemicals and petroleum, Charles River Associates; Michael Speltz, ChevronTexaco’s CVX Gas Forecasting and Analysis Group; and Gordon Slack, business director for energy, Dow Chemical Company.

Employing more than 70,000 workers, the Gulf Coast petrochemical industry contributes about $4 billion of pay and benefits and $500 million of property taxes annually to the regional economy.

For more information about the conference, go to https://www.bauer.uh.edu/gemi/new/petro.htm

WHO: UH’s Global Energy Management Institute (UH-GEMI)
WHAT: “The Future of the Gulf Coast Petrochemical Industry”
WHEN: April 29
8:30 a.m. “Understanding the Current Situation”
11:30 a.m. “Alternative Future Scenarios and Potential Industry Responses”
2:30 p.m. “Enabling the Industry to Move Forward”
5:45 p.m. Reception
WHERE: Houstonian Hotel, 111 N. Post Oak Lane

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.