Chiyoda Licenses Titania Catalyst for Ultra Deep Hydrodesulfurization of Diesel Oil to a French Company Axens

Chiyoda Corporation (TOKYO:6366; ISIN: JP3528600004), Japan's
leading engineering and construction firm, today announces that it is
licensing titania catalyst for ultra deep hydrodesulfurization (HDS)
of diesel oil to Axens, a French subsidiary of IFP. Chiyoda is aiming
to supply the catalyst for diesel oil in order to meet sulfur content
regulation which will be reinforced globally in years to come.

Chiyoda joined a research project sponsored by the "New Energy and
Industrial Technology Development Organization "(NEDO), & "Japan
Petroleum Energy Center" (JPEC), and has investigated titania catalyst
for ultra deep hydrodesulfurization of diesel oil. The activity of
titania catalyst per unit surface area has been known to be more
active than that of alumina catalyst which is normally used for
hydrodesulfurization of diesel oil; however, technical difficulty to
prepare the titania catalyst with large surface area has prevented its
commercial application. Chiyoda has come up with its proprietary
method to overcome this difficulty.

Axens, headed by Mr. Jean Sentenac, is a global company with
activities that include process licensing in the fields of refinery
and petrochemical industries, and manufacture and sales of various
catalysts used in those fields. Axens is a leading process licensor in
the hydrodesulfurization of gasoline and diesel oils, and supplies the
catalysts for such processes and is highly-evaluated internationally.

The titania catalyst, which has been jointly developed by Axens
and Chiyoda, has very high activity for hydrodesulfurization and it
allows oil companies to produce sulfur-free diesel under the reaction
condition in which the temperature is around 10-20 degrees Celsius
lower than that with conventional alumina catalyst. Also, it is worth
mentioning that it has strong interaction with nitrogen-contained
aromatic compound and accordingly has higher hydrodenitogenation (HDN)
selectivity than that of alumina catalyst. It is estimated that this
characteristic may allow its expanded use to hydrotreatment of various
distillates with higher nitrogen content in future.

Axens is currently working on the final adjustment of industrial
operating parameters and has scheduled the production of first
commercial batches of titania precursor and hydrotreatment catalyst in
the first quarter of 2008.

In Japan sulfur-free regulation (less than 10 ppm) has been
started from 2007. Two years ahead the implementation of the
regulation most oil companies in Japan had already started to supply
sulfur-free diesel from 2005. In collaboration with Axens and Chiyoda,
it is intended to supply commercialized product globally starting from
Europe, where sulfur-free regulation starts in 2009.

Chiyoda Corporation, headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, provides
services in the field of engineering, procurement and construction
(EPC) for gas processing, oil refineries and other hydrocarbon
processing and industrial plant projects, particularly in Gas Value
Chain areas, on a global basis including the Middle East, Russia,
Africa and South East Asian regions. For almost 60 years, Chiyoda has
constantly leveraged its extensive experience and a far-reaching
global network to give it an unrivaled advantage.