Exhibit 99.17
(Text of graph posted to Ashland Inc.'s website concerning
Chicago 3-2-1 Crack Spreads)
CHICAGO 3-2-1 CRACK SPREADS
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 1998-2003 Avg.
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- --------------
January 1.92 1.92 3.42 7.84 2.69 3.67 6.34 3.58
February 3.22 0.76 6.07 4.91 2.58 8.62 7.30 4.36
March 3.32 3.44 5.71 6.03 5.60 7.54 7.69 5.27
April 4.51 3.44 6.25 13.15 5.17 7.51 10.30 6.67
May 5.76 2.78 7.74 16.94 4.89 6.77 13.27 7.48
June 5.83 3.33 12.24 7.19 6.19 5.66 9.87 6.74
July 4.50 3.86 3.89 4.68 5.89 5.78 9.87 4.77
August 3.30 4.67 5.05 11.72 4.31 10.14 6.02 6.53
September 3.12 3.95 6.73 10.79 4.87 8.86 6.39
October 3.11 3.22 7.52 5.47 8.63 6.71 5.78
November 2.24 4.45 5.12 4.83 5.75 3.79 4.36
December 1.84 2.46 5.08 2.95 4.49 3.65 3.41
Average 3.56 3.19 6.24 8.04 5.09 6.56 8.83 5.44