SUNOCO COMPLETES PURCHASE
OF ARISTECH CHEMICAL

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 2, 2001 - - Sunoco, Inc. said today that it is pleased to announce that it completed the purchase of Aristech Chemical Corporation from Mitsubishi Corporation on January 1. The purchase price was $695 million, including approximately $115 million for working capital. Contingency payments up to a net present value of $167 million may also be made if realized margins for polypropylene and phenol exceed certain agreed upon thresholds.

The five plants Sunoco has acquired have the capacity to produce 1.5 billion pounds per year of polypropylene, over 1.6 billion pounds per year of phenol and related derivatives, including bisphenol-A, and 800 million pounds per year of plasticizers.

Bruce G. Fischer, vice president, Chemicals, also announced the following key management appointments reporting to him effective immediately:

Alan S. Vanacore has been appointed vice president and general manager of Chemicals and Intermediates responsible for the phenol/acetone, plasticizers, aromatics and olefins businesses.

Bruce D. Rubin has been appointed interim vice president and general manager of Polypropylene responsible for the management of the polypropylene business acquired with Aristech.

H. Jearl Sasser has been appointed vice president of Chemicals Manufacturing responsible for the operation of six chemical manufacturing facilities.

Edwar S. Shamshoum has been appointed vice president of Chemicals Research and Technology and will lead the research and development activities supporting the Chemicals' businesses.

The polypropylene and phenol businesses integrate well with Sunoco’s existing chemical operations and are a significant step in further upgrading Sunoco’s portfolio of businesses. The company has acquired excellent facilities that have been recently expanded and modernized by Aristech.

Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE: SUN), headquartered in Philadelphia, is one of the largest independent petroleum refiner-marketers in the United States. Sunoco operates five domestic refineries with 730,000 barrels-a-day of crude oil processing capacity and markets gasoline through more than 3,600 Sunoco retail outlets in 17 states from Maine to Virginia and west to Indiana. Sunoco sells lubricants and petrochemicals worldwide, operates domestic pipelines and terminals, and manufactures metallurgical-grade coke for use in the steel industry. For additional information, visit Sunoco’s web site at www.SunocoInc.com.