Page 8 - MEOG Week 42
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MEOG                                   PIPELINES & TRANSPORT                                           MEOG


       Aramco reportedly discussing




       pipeline deal with BlackRock




        SAUDI ARABIA     SAUDI Aramco is reported to be in talks with  capacity from 5mn to 7mn barrels per day (bpd).
                         BlackRock and other investors regarding a deal   The deal is believed to be similar in structure
                         to lease out and rent back a stake in its pipeline  to the 40% stake Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.
                         business.                            (ADNOC) leased in subsidiary ADNOC Oil
                           Last week, Reuters quoted unnamed com-  Pipelines to BlackRock and KKR in mid-2019
                         pany sources as saying that the effort, known  for $4.9bn.
                         internally as ‘Project Seek’, remains in the initial   This was followed by the June agreement to
                         stages, with no formal agreement yet in place.  lease 49% of the ADNOC Gas Pipelines subsidi-
                           While the deal has been in the works for  ary to a consortium for $10.1bn as ADNOC con-
                         much for the year, Middle East Oil & Gas  tinues its successful monetisation of state-owned
                         (MEOG) reported last week that appetite for an  assets and infrastructure.
                         agreement under previously discussed terms is   Following on from its success in Abu Dhabi,
                         understood to have diminished somewhat amid  BlackRock is understood to have joined the
                         concerns from the Ministry of Energy, with fur-  Aramco talks and Reuters sources said that it is
                         ther due diligence deemed necessary.  joined in discussions by Brookfield Asset Man-
                           The proposed $10bn deal was being negoti-  agement, which was part of the consortium
                         ated between Aramco and a group of local banks  that acquired a stake in ADNOC Gas Pipelines,
                         believed to include Al-Ahli NCB, Al Rajhi and  while JP Morgan and Japan’s MUFG were hired
                         Riyad, which would cover a period of up to 25  to advise on the deal.
                         years.                                 One source said: “There’s more work to be
                           Under this proposal, Aramco would have  done. No buyers have been lined up, but there
                         paid a set tariff for use of the infrastructure,  are talks,” adding that the deal could be financed
                         which includes the massive East-West Pipeline  through a syndicated loan and a bond issuance
                         that is currently being upgraded to increase  linked to revenue from the assets.™

















































       P8                                       www. NEWSBASE .com                        Week 42   21•October•2020
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