Natco Group Inc. announces Saudi Arabian joint venture agreement

Natco Chairman and CEO John Clarke said,

"This is a significant step for Natco in our pursuit of technology and process equipment deployment to the largest oil producing market in the world. Our alignment with the Al-Rushaid Group establishes a relationship with a world renowned partner with significant capabilities in the Kingdom, including engineering, manufacturing, construction, drilling and market presence."

Sheikh Abdullah Al-Rushaid said, "We are delighted to partner with Natco in the Kingdom. We selected Natco as a partner due to its recognized leadership in process technology and equipment manufacturing. The Saudi Arabian market is large and complex and represents a significant opportunity to apply technology to various industry sectors."

The joint venture agreement includes the construction of a new, dedicated vessel manufacturing facility within Al Rushaid's new industrial complex in Jubail. The construction of the facility is expected to be completed by year-end 2008. The facility will have the capability to manufacture pressure vessels for the upstream, downstream and petrochemical markets. In addition, the venture will have the capability to deliver skidded packages incorporating Natco production processing technologies.

Clarke added, "We believe that establishing local presence in the Kingdom with a substantial partner will accelerate our ability to penetrate this important world market. When the new facility is completed and the joint venture operation becomes fully staffed, we expect that sales to both new build and retrofit markets will be significant. We are encouraged by the support of the Saudi government, Saudi Aramco, SABIC and other clients of local manufacturing initiatives."

Clarke concluded by saying, "While we expect to focus first on debottlenecking opportunities and sales of crude oil desalting and dehydration equipment, in time, we would expect to deploy proprietary solutions for produced water treatment systems, seawater injection and ultimately CO2 membranes for enhanced oil recovery."

Natco Group Inc. is a leading provider of wellhead process equipment, systems and services used in the production of oil and gas. NATCO has designed, manufactured and marketed production equipment and services for over 80 years. Natco production equipment is used onshore and offshore in most major oil and gas producing regions of the world.