KNPC signs KD 1.2 bn loan for fuels project – KPC inks supply deal
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KUWAIT CITY, April 28, (RTRS): State-owned refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Co (KNPC) signed on Thursday the first tranche of financing for its multi-billion-dollar Clean Fuels Project, a major plank of the country’s economic development plan.
The tranche, provided by local banks and lasting for 10 years, is worth 1.2 billion dinars ($3.98 billion) and led by National Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Finance House , KNPC chairman Jamal al-Noori said at the signing ceremony. Pricing details were not given.
KNPC chief executive Mohammed al-Mutairi had said last month that the first tranche would be worth 900 million dinars. No reason was given for the increase in size.
The second tranche of the loan, which will be arranged by international lenders, is expected to be $6 billion and close by the end of this year, KNPC acting chief executive Ahmad al-Jimaz said at the ceremony.
The two tranches comprise about 70 per cent of the total financing required for the project, while the remaining 30 per cent will be financed from KNPC’s own funds.
National Bank of Kuwait’s share of the first tranche was worth 400 million dinars, and Kuwait Finance House’s portion was 275 million dinars, NBK’s chief executive Isam al-Sager said at the ceremony. Eleven banks, including five Islamic lenders, took part in the first tranche.
Part of the country’s 30 billion dinar economic development plan, the Clean Fuels Project will upgrade and expand two of the Gulf state’s largest refineries with a focus on producing higher-value products such as diesel and kerosene for export.
Meanwhile, state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has signed a contract to supply crude oil to Turkish refiner Tupras, Kuwait’s state news agency reported on Thursday without giving details of the deal.
The agreement, which KPC said was signed on Monday, came amid “intense competition among crude exporting countries for market share in the Mediterranean region”, said Nabil Bouresli, KPC’s head of international marketing, according to KUNA.
OPEC member Kuwait produces around 3 million barrels of oil per day and plans to boost its output to 3.15 million bpd in the third quarter of 2016, Bouresli said in February.
Turkey imported 149,227 tonnes of crude oil from Kuwait in 2015, out of the 25 million tonnes it purchased abroad, according to Turkey’s energy watchdog EPDK.
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