Page 13 - DMEA week 23

DMEA
neWs in Brief
DMEA
C o m P a n i e s
ENOC Group secures
US$690 million term loan
from a consortium of
Chinese banks
ENOC Group has secured a ve-year US$690 million term loan from a Chinese consortium of banks as China’s biggest nancial institutions endorse the Group’s operational and nancial health.
e term loan will nance general corporate purposes as ENOC continues to fuel the local economy through its business divisions in exploration & production, supply & operations, terminals, fuel retail, aviation fuel and petroleum products for commercial & industrial use.
e consortium consists of Industrial
and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank (CCB) – China’s top three banks in terms of size, assets and pro ts. ICBC acts as coordinating bank.
his Excellency Saif humaid Al Falasi, Group Chief Executive O cer of ENOC,
said: “With rapid changes in the evolving energy industry, there is a global shi towards alternative energy, innovation and digitisation. We are forerunners in the areas of innovation and technology in the regional energy market and are pleased to see international nancial institutions trusting and endorsing our growth plans and nancial outlook.”
ICBC, the largest bank in the world by total assets and net pro t, has been appointed as the facility agent for the deal and has structured the transaction.
According to a study by S&P Global Market Intelligence last year that included 28 banks across the world with over US$1
trillion in assets across Asia, North America and Europe, the top four banks were from China. Banks from the Asian economic superpower have overshadowed their Western counterparts as the big four lenders of
China - ICBC, CCB, Bank of China (BOC) and Agricultural Bank of China grew their assets year-over-year, posting a combined US$13.637 trillion in assets.
“ e nancing also underpins con dence by international lenders in the growth and operational excellence of ENOC over the last 25 years in this region and internationally,” added Al Falasi
Zhang Junguo, General Manager of ICBC Dubai (DIFC) Branch, said: “We would like to thank ENOC for trusting us to lead this nancing. is transaction also highlights our con dence in ENOC’s long term growth as well as our continued commitment to supporting the local economy.”
enoC
Aramco Trading opens new Fujairah Office
Aramco Trading Co., which expects to see
its oil trading volume rise to six million barrels per day by next year, has opened its second international o ce a er Singapore, in Fujairah, UAE.
e event was attended by the rm’s chairman and head of Saudi Aramco Downstream Abdulaziz M. Al-Judaimi, and CEO Ibrahim Al-Buainain.
Aramco Trading’s expansion plans are expected to propel the Dhahran-based company into the top tier of global fuel- trading companies. e wholly owned subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company by crude oil production, opened the o ce in the UAE Emirate of Fujairah as part of a global push into new markets to secure buyers for re ned products
as well as crude.
e new facility, Aramco Trading Fujairah
(ATF), will handle all Aramco Trading gasoline and fuel oil storage and blending activities. e opening ceremony was also attended by local dignitaries, including Sharief habib Al Awadhi, director general of the Fujairah Free Zone, Capt. Mousa Morad, managing director of the Port of Fujairah, and Capt. Salem Abdullah Al hamoudi, director of the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ).
Al-Judaimi said: “We have been in Fujairah for a number of years and as our trading business expands globally – between Singapore, Saudi Arabia, London, houston – we trade across di erent time zones,
and Fujairah as the centre of our blending operations, we thought it is important to be here, physically doing trading as a business in Fujairah. We are very happy with the relationships here, be it with our clients, our suppliers and the government – they have been very open and have welcomed us to be here for many years.”
Al-Buainain said: “Aramco Trading has experienced signi cant growth in recent years. We started in 2012 with 600,000 to 700,000 b/d and now we’re operating at more than 4 million b/d – and as the downstream business grows to the level that we want to reach 8-10 million b/d – Aramco Trading will grow together with that business. At Fujairah, we have a growing business that started with 100,000 b/d and now we have 350,000 b/d between gasoline and fuel oil. So, for this reason, Fujairah would be the optimum location that is close to our assets close to the free zone.”
e inauguration of the new o ce facility comes only a month a er Aramco Trading announced that it had sold its rst LNG cargo, the rst of many more to come. In 2012, ATC was established to market re ned products, and bulk petrochemicals. Beginning with re ned products from its overseas re neries
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