Arabian American Development Announces Update on Impact of Hurricane Ike

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Power Restored and Facility Now Operational

DALLAS, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Arabian American Development Co. (Nasdaq: ARSD) today provided an update on the effects of Hurricane Ike to its operations. The Company announced that it had sustained no material damage from the hurricane winds or flooding, power has been restored and it has restarted the manufacturing process effective September 17, 2008 at its South Hampton Resource facility. South Hampton Resources, which owns and operates a specialty petrochemical facility near Silsbee, Texas, approximately 30 miles north of Beaumont, Texas, and 90 miles east of Houston manufactures Arabian American's C5 and C6 petrochemical products, which provide all the Company's revenues.

The Southampton Resources facility expansion project which was anticipated to be complete and online by mid September has been pushed back due to the effects of the hurricane. Timing of full production for the expansion is now due online the first week of October 2008. The company still expects to immediately utilize 25-30% of the new capacity from the expansion which will double C5 and C6 capacity to 6,000 barrels per day.

Nick Carter, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Arabian American Development Company commented, "I am deeply grateful for the excellent performance of our entire operational staff as Hurricane Ike progressed on its projected path. Our preparation and planning has also helped us to quickly return to our normal operations. We were most fortunate and hold all those affected during this hurricane season in our thoughts and wish them a speedy recovery from its devastating effects."

About Arabian American Development Company (ARSD)

Arabian American owns and operates a petrochemical facility located in southeast Texas just north of Beaumont, specializing in high purity petrochemical solvents and other solvent type manufacturing. The Company is also the original developer and is now a 50% owner of a joint venture in a mining project in the Al-Masane area of Saudi Arabia which is under construction and is scheduled to be in production in late 2010. The mine will produce economic quantities of zinc, copper, gold, and silver.

Safe Harbor

Statements in this release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements are based upon Management's belief as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Management. Because such statements are based upon expectations as to future economic performance and are not statements of fact, actual results may differ from those projected. These risks, as well as others, are discussed in greater detail in Arabian American's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Arabian American's annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and the Company's subsequent Quarterly Report Forms 10-Q.

     Company Contact:  Nick Carter, Executive Vice President and Chief
                       Operating Officer
                       (409) 385-8300
                       ncarter@southhamptonr.com

     Investor Contact: Cameron Donahue
                       Hayden Communications
                       (651) 653-1854
                       Cameron@haydenir.com

SOURCE Arabian American Development Co.