THE CLEAN FUELS COMPANY

Criterion Catalysts & Technologies L.P. is a leading hydroprocessing catalyst supplier with a comprehensive product and technology portfolioencompassing a wide range of refining processapplications.

With more than 50 years experience developing, manufacturing and servicing catalysts, Criterion leadsthe way in technology innovation. We provide a varietyof process technologies that can be packaged to createcomplete, optimized solutions for hydroprocessing challenges.

Criterion’s resources and expertise add value to refineryassets and operations in many different ways: delivery of superior products, unit optimization, operations consulting and developing unique collaborative alliances.Criterion is committed to delivering safe, reliable, innovative and cost effective Clean Fuels solutions withoperations that are certified to ISO 9002 standards.

Achieving maximum results requires high performancecatalyst and technical support. We demonstrate premierresults for the industry in producing a broad range ofexceptionally high performance catalysts. We employ anexperienced technical staff whose quality process andcatalytic experience and knowledge can help refinersachieve maximum performance from their hydrotreatingunits.

Reliability is crucial to profitability. Criterion’s catalystsand process experience help refiners maintain reliableunit operation to achieve aggressive production goals.

Criterion Catalysts & Technologies

www.criterioncatalysts.com

3

CONTENTS

3 Introduction

4 Distillates

7 Hydrocracking

8 FCC Pretreat

10 Clean Fuels

12 Hydroprocessing of Lubricating Oils and Waxes

13 Tail Gas

14 Naphtha Reforming

17 Fixed and Ebullating Bed Resid Hydro-conversion

18 Quality, Innovation and Sustainable Development

Criterion delivers ....value, performance and reliability

Distillates

The global push for cleaner fuels has transformed the distillate hydrotreater over the past decade from anover-designed utility to a precision process delivering a “chemicals grade” product. Significant investment isrequired by refiners to raise unit severity to meet theever-cleaner diesel quality specifications. This trend is projected to continue for the next decade, affecting not only on-road diesel fuels, but also off-road and industrial gas oil fuels.

Criterion has developed its distillate catalyst portfolio to help refiners cope with the increasing severity requirements. These improvements have helped refiners minimize capital investments to meet clean fuels specifications and also assisted in maximizing the reliability, flexibility and profitability of these new operations. Criterion made what we regard as the firststep-out improvement in distillate catalyst performancewith the introduction of CENTINEL catalysts in 2000.These catalysts served as the workhorses of the initialULSD wave in Europe, however as the clean fuels requirements spread globally, the call for the next generation of products was clear. In 2004, Criterion introduced two new catalyst technologies, CENTINELGOLD and ASCENT, that provide a combination ofimproved performance and operational flexibility to meet the ever-increasing challenges of pushing sulphur to near zero levels.

The new catalyst technologies help extend the operational capabilities that can improve reliability andeconomics for these critical ULSD units. These two innovative technologies can achieve performance benefits across the full spectrum of ULSD operations,with key advantages including improved desulphurizationactivity, better regeneration/reuse options and high physical strength characteristics.

CENTINEL GOLD technology provides substantial activity benefits at moderate to high operating pressuresby taking advantage of its Type II active sites. ASCENTtechnology, however, optimizes the mix of Type I andType II active sites to maximize the reaction routes atlow to moderate operating pressures where both directand indirect HDS pathways are available. This dual functionality provides HDS performance benefits, helps

minimize hydrogen consumption and permits excellentactivity recovery upon regeneration.

Given the performance benefits described above,Criterion recommends selection of the best ULSD catalyst using the criteria below, which combine theprocess variable hydrogen partial pressure with feedstock difficulty (severity) to map the application environment. ASCENT catalyst is favoured at low to moderate pressures on feeds containing lower percentages of cracked stocks, while the CENTINELGOLD products excel at moderate to high pressures,particularly when processing heavy feeds containing elevated (>25%) cracked stock content.

4

www.criterioncatalysts.com

5

6

Hydrocracking

Today, refiners worldwide must deal with manufacturingproducts with increasingly difficult specifications atextremely competitive costs. Increasing throughputs,reducing downtime, avoiding upsets and upgrading low value refinery streams are critical operational andbusiness goals for most refiners. All of these goals areoften pursued with constrained capital budgets. As aresult, the industry is focusing intensely on getting morevalue from all existing assets.

One refinery operation that offers great potential formaximizing value is the hydrocracking process. Forthose refiners with hydrocrackers, this operation is oneof the best opportunities to improve operating marginand increase the production of ‘near zero sulphur’ fuelswithout having to make a major capital investment. Withthe new technologies available today, the hydrocrackercan be quickly upgraded to economically convert evenmore of the low value streams to help meet the growingdemand for Clean Fuels.

Criterion Catalysts & Technologies and ZeolystInternational GP have been leading innovators in hydrocracking catalyst technology (pretreat and crackingcatalysts) for many years. By having an integratedresearch and manufacturing capability for not onlyhydrocracking catalysts, but also for the catalyst carriers(aluminas, silica aluminas and zeolites), the companieshave been able to create a wide variety of products to meet the specific needs of each refiner. These manufacturing innovations have lead to our CENTINELGOLD and ASCENT product lines which have beenwidely and successfully installed in a broad range ofhydrocracking units worldwide.

There is no single ‘silver bullet’ catalyst solution for a hydrocracking unit - even for a specific fuel segment.Seasonal product demand shifts, changes in crude oilsource, local market conditions and individual unitdesign differences dictate a flexible and tailoredapproach for each hydrocracker. Criterion and Zeolystprovide each customer with an optimized hydrocrackingcatalyst system with what we believe to be the widestportfolio available in the industry. Each customer gets a broad range of technical support that includes performance monitoring, troubleshooting, start-up

assistance and recommendations of operating strategythroughout the cycle. This support helps the customer,optimize operations, avoid problems and generate newmargin-enhancing ideas. This approach ensures thatcatalyst capabilities are matched appropriately with unitcapabilities to produce the designed product slate.

Customers may take advantage of Criterion’s andZeolyst’s business alliance with Shell Global Solutions.In this way, further improvements can be made to thehydrocracker to provide additional capacity and reliability. For example, Shell Global Solutions has developed high-performance distributor trays andquench systems that can quickly and economicallyupgrade the hydrocracker’s capability. With the extensiveexperience and know-how that Criterion, Zeolyst andShell Global Solutions have developed, many improvements can be achieved through best practicesharing and through rapid implementation of new catalyst offerings and upgrades to hardware and controlsystems to maximize the value that the hydrocrackingprocess brings to the refiner.

7

www.criterioncatalysts.com

FCC Pretreat

The emphasis on refinery profit enhancement throughupgrading of higher sulphur, lower cost crude sources and new fuel and environmental regulation has led toincreased FCC feed hydroprocessing capacity withinrefineries.

FCC Pretreatment units are required to desulphurize, denitrify and saturate aromatic components found in a commingled blend of feedstocks that can includenaphtha, distillate and vacuum gas oils from straight run and cracked feed sources, as well as from residstreams. The design of these units requires flexibility ofthe catalysts employed and in most cases a customizedapproach on catalyst performance.

Criterion is an industry leader in providing catalysts thatare tolerant of feed contaminant metals and concarbonfound in these difficult to process feedstocks. The resulting benefit to refiners is significantly longer runtimebetween catalyst changeout and/or improved profitabilitythrough the processing of lower cost feedstocks. AllCriterion FCC pretreatment products employ the porestructure design that maximizes a catalyst’s stabilitywhen operating in this severe environment.

Criterion FCC Pretreat research and development is focused on catalytic innovations that enhance thereactions within an FCC Pretreatment unit that maximizedownstream Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCC) yieldupgrade, as well as reactions which improve FCC unitenvironmental performance (SOx, NOx). Our catalystR&D effort in this area is a targeted development program to understand the requirements of processingthese difficult feedstocks, while ensuring that maximumremoval of feed contaminants and maximum FCC feedquality upgrade is achieved. Significant innovations havebeen commercialized within the last 10 years that haveimproved the profitability and environmental performanceof the industry’s FCC units. Our 200 series, CENTINELand ASCENT product lines exemplify these innovations.

Criterion technical service is focused on customized catalyst system design and expert level operating adviceto help meet the profitability targets and regulation constraints of our customers. Our specialized technicalservice group is highly trained in catalyst application, unit

monitoring, troubleshooting and optimization of refineryprocess operations. The applied skills and activities ofthis group ensure that maximum return is achieved fromour customer’s catalytic investment.

www.criterioncatalysts.com

8

9

Clean Fuels

Due to the ever increasing demand on fuel specifications and the need to produce more automotivefuels, an extensive portfolio of optimized solutions inhydroprocessing have been developed by Criterion’sClean Fuels group. This portfolio ranges from newlicensed units to optimized revamp studies. This portfolioincludes:

• Technology and project design for revamps, including reactor and internal design incorporating Shell Global Solutions’ unique reactor internals and Criterion’s extensive range of high activity catalysts

• Licensed Units for hydrocracking, mild hydrocracking, lubes and residue upgrading

• SYN technology for maximum optimization of automotive diesel, including ULSD, cetane boost, density shift, aromatic saturation and cold flow improvement

• Diesel and Lube dewaxing.

Technology and Project DesignCriterion’s technology and project design team has been involved in over 150 projects since 2002.These projects include new reactor internals and high dispersion trays from Shell Global Solutions, ULSDrevamps and grassroots unit design. In a wide variety of production requirements, we can help maximize use of your refining assets.

SYN TechnologyThrough the alliance with ABB Lummus Global, Criterionhas developed a number of licensed approaches to producing ULSD. These include SYNSat for productionof ULSD with aromatic saturation, also SYNShift forULSD production with both cetane boost and densityimprovement. The alliances’ combined strength in catalyst R&D, processing know-how and operationalexperience has created a unique expertise in implementing low cost, customized routes for the production of ultra low sulphur/high cetane middle distillates.

Cold Flow Improvement PropertiesFor cold areas of the globe it is essential that during thewinter season the flow properties - Cloud Point, PourPoint and Cold Filter Plugging Point - of diesel for automotive and heating oil for domestic and industrialapplications are maximized.

SDD-800 and SDD-801 were specifically developed to address cold flow properties and are in use in more than thirteen refineries. A third member of the family,SDD-821, is now fully commercialized for ultra selectiveisomerization-dewaxing to maximize middle distillateyields and Cold Flow Property improvements.

www.criterioncatalysts.com

10

11

Technical SupportOperating hydroprocessing units successfully in today’sclimate requires close scrutiny on all aspects of a unit’sperformance. We ensure help is made available to suchcritical units so problems are avoided. Our servicesinclude:

• Training and start up supervision• Exclusive unit monitoring package• Detailed unit performance reports• Optimization of unit performance as feed changes• Troubleshooting• Sampling service.

12

Criterion has a long history of providing lube refining catalysts, beginning with such effective catalysts as 424and 454, which were introduced more than twenty fiveyears ago.

Hydrofinishing and PretreatingLube finishing units operate over a wide range of conditions to improve colour, saturate aromatics andolefins and remove sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen. Feeds may be naphthenic or paraffinic, straight-run orrefined by solvent extraction or hydrocracking. Criterion catalysts are also very effective for pretreating lube fractions prior to further processing by sulphur and nitrogen sensitive catalysts.

VI Improvement by HydrocrackingThis process, replacing solvent extraction with low to moderate conversion hydrocracking, can produceGroup II, II+ and III lube oils, from a wider variety ofcrude oils and at higher yields. It can also economicallycomplement an existing solvent extraction unit.Criterion has very successfully demonstrated new lubehydrocracking catalysts in numerous operating units.

Food Grade Oil and Wax Production by SevereHydrotreatingCriterion offers very high activity finishing catalysts forupgrading oils to exceed demanding FDA and DABspecifications. Criterion noble metal catalysts are verystable, resistant to sulphur and nitrogen poisoning andhave enabled white oil refiners to increase throughput,improve product quality and significantly extend cyclelengths.

Catalytic Dewaxing and Isomerization DewaxingCriterion supplies catalysts in the technology areas ofcatalytic dewaxing and of isomerization/conversion toproduce lubricants of exceptional quality. Multiple unitsare in operation using Criterion catalysts.

Hydroprocessing of LubricatingOils and Waxes

www.criterioncatalysts.com

Tail Gas

With Claus sulphur recoveries less effective to meetincreasingly stringent environmental regulations,Criterion provides catalysts for processes using reductive tail gas treating methods. These processescan boost overall sulphur recovery to > 99.9%.

Criterion supplies 234, 534 and 734 tail gas treating catalysts for the reduction reactor used in the reductivegas treating method. These catalysts are installed in the major tail gas treating processes and among themaccount for about 90% of the world’s installed capacity.Criterion also offers an incineration catalyst, 099 thatexhibits exceptional selectivity and thermal stability.

Criterion 534 is a spherical cobalt molybdenum catalystthat was originally developed for the SCOT (Shell ClausOff-gas Treating) process. 534 incorporates excellentphysical strength, high surface area and good thermalstability with low pressure drop and a metals loadingoptimized for tail gas treating. The result is a catalystideally suited for the low pressure reduction reactor that has demonstrated over 10-year cycle lengths in sometail gas units.

Criterion 234 is a cobalt molybdenum Trilobe catalystand is a lower cost/fill alternative to 534 and has theadded capability of operating satisfactorily at lower reactor inlet temperatures. 234 has the 534 properties of high surface area, low pressure drop and excellentcatalytic activity.

Criterion 734 is the newest member of our tail gas treating family. This spherical catalyst allows low temperature conversion of sulphur compounds that provides the refiner a significant operating expensereduction for this process.

Criterion 099 is a spherical catalyst developed for the catalytic incineration option in the SCOT process.Catalytic incineration is an energy saving alternative to the Claus thermal incinerator. Typical catalytic incineration temperatures are 300 - 400˚C -vs- 700 - 800˚C for thermal incineration. 099 is thermallystable and selectively oxidizes sulphur compounds toSO2. 099 is also suitable for other catalytic incineration applications.

13

To produce lower sulphur gasoline and diesel, refinershave implemented solutions to make and conservehydrogen in their refineries. Refiners have focused onthe reformer to increase hydrogen, because the reformerunit is a primary source of hydrogen in a refinery.Refiners can increase hydrogen from the reformer byoperating at higher feedrate, greater octane, more naphthenic feed composition or lower reactor averagepressure. To assist refiners in meeting their goals,Criterion has developed new reforming catalysts thatlower unit-operating cost, have higher selectivity andprovide longer cycle length.

Criterion has been supplying reformer catalysts to refiners worldwide for over 40 years. Criterion supplieshigh performance catalysts for every reformer designincluding the latest moving bed designs: Platformer,Powerformer, Rheniformer, Ultraformer, Magnaformerand CCR Platformer. Our unique catalyst manufacturingprocess provides high-purity alumina platforms so thatwe can optimize the catalyst design properties to link thebenefits to the design features of these various processes.

Our broad catalyst portfolio ranges from specialty platinum-only catalyst, high performance platinum-rhenium bi-metallic and advanced aluminaspherical platinum/tin catalysts for moving bed units(CCR’s). All these catalysts have very good static anddynamic strength characteristics. Criterion offers highperformance hydrotreating catalysts to remove sulphurand nitrogen. Additionally, we supply guard bed catalystsspecifically designed for high uptake of silica andarsenic. We also offer chloride adsorbents to help lessencorrosion in refinery process units.

High quality technical service accompanies our catalyststo provide safe and proper implementation. Summaryreports, on-site technical consultation meeting and troubleshooting advice compose CAT-CHECKSM ourcomprehensive performance monitoring system.

KEY BENEFITS

CCR Reforming

• Increased hydrogen yields and feed throughput with reduction in fines

Fixed Bed Reforming

• Balanced catalyst for greater stability and more octane barrel per cycle

• Optimized stage loaded catalyst, for higher reformate yields with longer cycle lengths

Advanced catalyst monitoring

• Review projected versus actual performance

• Recommendations to improved unit performance

• Calculated remaining cycle life

• Catalyst analysis and unit troubleshooting

www.criterioncatalysts.com

Naphtha Reforming

14

15

16

17

Reduced availability of light and sweet crudes and the consequential increase in cost of such feedstocks makes it more and more attractive for the refiner to take in heavier and more sour feeds. At the same timethe market for fuel oils is diminishing and the sulphur specifications for lighter product fuels is tightening. Since we feel it is evident that these trends will only continue in the years coming, it is clear that upgrading of the bottom of the barrel is not only a tough challenge,but will increasingly contribute to (or determine) the profitability of the refinery.

Criterion Catalysts & Technologies has demonstratedleadership in the development of catalyst systems forresid hydro-conversion processes. Dependent on thequality of the residual feed, the integration of the refineryand the specifications required for the products, thereare different processes available and different catalytic solutions possible. Criterion has the right solutions to optimize the performance of the operation, whether thegoal is to prepare high quality feed for the Fluid CatalystCracking unit, to maximize the yield in transportationfuels, or to upgrade bitumen into synthetic crude.

The main challenge in fixed bed residue hydroprocessing is to meet product specifications with a reasonable catalyst life. Meeting this challengerequires a catalyst system that will resist deactivation by metals and coke at severe operating conditions. TheHDM (hydrodemetalization) catalysts offered by Criterionfor the front end of a fixed bed resid unit have the uniquecombination of outstanding activities with extremely highmetal capacities and are, for that reason, the perfect protection against metal deactivation of the downstreamtransition and hydrodesulphurization catalysts. The transition catalyst in its turn is designed to reduce themetals in the product further while at the same time having a higher desulphurization activity.

The desulphurization catalysts offered by Criterion combine a high hydrogenation activity with high stabilitywhen operated at the severe conditions (high temperature, low hydrogen partial pressure) in the outletof the unit. The optimum combination of these catalystsdepends on the needs and objectives of the refiner.Selection and design of the proposed system is based

on Criterion’s decades of commercial experience, pilotplant tests and state of the art simulation programs butcan only be successful if done in close cooperation withthe refiner.

Criterion’s development program for ebullating bed catalysts, which started in the early days of the processdevelopment and was consistently continued over theyears, has resulted in a catalyst portfolio with outstanding performance.

Criterion’s ebullating bed catalysts provide:

• High product stability (sediment control) at high pitch conversion

• Low required catalyst addition rate

• Improved stability during unit upsets

• High CCR removal activity.

Criterion catalysts have demonstrated successful application in most of the ebullating beds units aroundthe world.

Both for fixed bed as for ebullating bed applications,Criterion has state of the art catalysts available and iswilling to cooperate to optimize the system to meet thechanging needs and requirements of the individual refiner.

Fixed and Ebullating Bed Resid Hydro-conversion

www.criterioncatalysts.com

www.criterioncatalysts.com

18

Quality, Innovation and Sustainable Development

Criterion is a leading innovator of hydroprocessing catalysts and processes. The SYNSat process, whichwas introduced nearly 10 years ago, was a pioneeringtechnology to enable low sulphur, low aromatics diesel production at moderate pressure.

Our innovations in zeolite catalyst technologies have led to significantly greater productivity from both gasolineand diesel oriented hydrocrackers. Likewise, our breakthroughs in fixed-bed and moving-bed reformingcatalysts have given our customers rapid paybacksthrough higher gasoline yields and lower operatingcosts.

Our advancements in hydrotreating catalyst technology - the CENTURY, CENTINEL and ASCENT processes -have enabled us to produce catalysts with superior activity and stability. These breakthroughs have allowedour customers to push their hydrotreaters well beyondpast limits.

Criterion’s CAT-CHECKSM is a knowledge based management system for optimizing catalyst performance and utilization.

Recognizing customer needs, we developed thisapproach to monitor catalyst performance in the unit with minimum customer effort. Our consultants translatethe data to quickly obtain an intimate knowledge of theunit and to compare this information with our extensiveknowledge base built up over many years. We are betterpositioned to rapidly gain an understanding of what’spossible for the unit and with a goal to unlock its hiddenpotential. CAT-CHECK is proving to be an overwhelmingsuccess.

Criterion is brimming with people who are dedicated todelivering the highest quality products and services. Aswe look forward, Criterion believes that it can best helpits customers meet their future challenges by continuing

to provide leadership in research and investment indevelopment of products and technologies to createeven more powerful solutions.

We have used the ISO 9000 system since 1990 to continuously improve our performance; our key businessoperations have been certified to meet the ISO 9002standard since 1992.

Through our focus on sustainable development, we integrate the economic, environmental and societalaspects of our business and establish objectives andplans to safeguard our people and the environment,building our reputation as a supplier of first choice to ultimately achieve sustained financial success.

Each year we set progressive targets for safety performance, manufacturing efficiency and waste reduction and create a system of cascading goals toachieve our targets.

USA, CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICASCorporate Headquarters16825 Northchase Drive, Suite 1000Houston, Texas 77060-6029, USATelephone: +1 281 874 2600Facsimile: +1 281 874 2641

CANADA5241 Calgary Trail SouthboundSuite 810, Centre 104Edmonton, Alberta T6H 5G8CanadaTelephone: +1 780 438 4188Facsimile: +1 780 438 3473

EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA1650 ParkwayThe Solent Business ParkWhiteley, FarehamHampshire, PO15 7AH, UKTelephone: +44 1 489 881881Facsimile: +44 1 489 881882

ASIA, PACIFIC RIM298 Tiong Bahru Road#07-03/04/05 Tiong Bahru PlazaSingapore 168730Telephone: +65 6276 3627Facsimile: +65 6276 7455

www.criterioncatalysts.com

© 2005 Criterion Catalysts & Technologies L.P. CAT-CHECK is a service mark of Criterion Catalysts & Technologies (I_E)