Project financing agreement signed

Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petro Rabigh), whose major shareholders are Sumitomo Chemical and Saudi Aramco, has signed project financing agreements with a syndicate of banks for the Rabigh Phase II Project, which is an undertaking to expand its existing integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex. The financing involves approximately US$5.2 billion, which represents over 60% of the total project cost of approximately US$8.1 billion specified in the agreements.

Petro Rabigh will receive project financing from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), both of which are governmental financial institutions, and a 19 member financing syndicate of financial institutions from Japan, Saudi Arabia, Europe, and the US. JBIC will provide approximately US$2.0 billion in financing, and PIF will provide US$1.3 billion. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and the Saudi British Bank have acted as financial advisors for the financing of the project.

Under the Rabigh Phase II Project, Petro Rabigh will process newly allocated 30 million ft3/d of ethane and approximately 3 million tpy of naphtha, as major feedstock, to produce a variety of high value added petrochemical products by expanding an ethane cracker and building a new aromatics complex. The project, which will utilise state of the art technologies from Sumitomo Chemical and other companies, will seek to maximise synergies with the Rabigh Phase I Project, while at the same time contributing to creating greater employment opportunities and promoting industrial diversification in Saudi Arabia. Production facilities of the project are expected to commence operations one after another, beginning in the first half of 2016.

Adapted from press release by Rosalie Starling

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/19032015/project-financing-agreement-signed-for-petro-rabighs-phase-ii-project-473/