Texas Petrochemicals Sees Continued Weak Demand in Key Markets

HOUSTON, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Texas Petrochemicals, Inc. (the
"Company") (OTC:TXPI) a Houston based petrochemical company that provides a
diverse range of quality products and services into performance, specialty and
intermediate manufacturing markets worldwide sees continued weak demand across
its C4 and Performance Product businesses, especially in its largest market,
butadiene.

"The severe decline in general economic conditions has negatively impacted
both supply and demand for our businesses, especially in the butadiene
marketplace," said Russ Crockett, Senior Vice President -- Commercial.
"Because of the flexibility in our asset portfolio, we have been working to
optimize our physical assets and to reduce our operating costs by temporarily
idling various production units at both our Houston and Port Neches facilities
while continuing to meet the needs of our customers and suppliers. We also
have released a significant portion of the contractor workforce at our
facilities to further eliminate costs in these challenging times. At this
point, although we have seen some improvement in demand across our business
from last month, demand for butadiene has not significantly improved over
December's levels. As a result, we will continue to take aggressive steps to
reduce working capital, manage costs, and maintain liquidity until conditions
improve."

Headquartered in Houston, Texas Petrochemicals Inc. sells products into a wide
range of performance, specialty and intermediate markets, including synthetic
rubber, fuel additives, plastics and detergents. The Company has manufacturing
facilities in the industrial corridor adjacent to the Houston Ship Channel,
Port Neches and Baytown, Texas and operates a product terminal in Lake
Charles, Louisiana. For more information, visit the Company's web site at
http://www.txpetrochem.com.

Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The matters discussed in this press release that are not historical or current
facts deal with potential future circumstances and developments. This
discussion is qualified by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding
future events generally and also may differ materially from actual future
experience involving any one or more of such matters. Forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date they were made, and the Company
undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements in
light of new information or future events.

Investor Relations
Contact: Robert Whitlow
Email: robert.whitlow@txpetrochem.com
Phone: 713-627-7474

Contact: Ruth Dreessen
Email: ruth.dreessen@txpetrochem.com
Phone: 713-627-7474

Media Relations
Contact: Sara Cronin
Email: sara.cronin@txpetrochem.com
Phone: 713-627-7474

SOURCE Texas Petrochemicals, Inc.

Investor Relations, Robert Whitlow, robert.whitlow@txpetrochem.com, or Ruth
Dreessen, ruth.dreessen@txpetrochem.com, or Media Relations, Sara Cronin,
sara.cronin@txpetrochem.com, all of Texas Petrochemicals, Inc.,
+1-713-627-7474