Page 13 - MEOG Week 22 2021

MEOG NEWS IN BRIEF MEOG

Kuwait to consolidate oil implemented gradually and that it includes
COMPANIES to restructure of the oil sector would be
Aramco in talks with banks firms to 3 in restructuring merger of small firms to create large units.
ZAWYA
for new bond sale plan

Saudi Arabian oil group Aramco is in talks OPEC member Kuwait has decided to cut Total changes name to
with banks for a U.S. dollar-denominated down the number of its government oil TotalEnergies
bond issue, two sources said, seeking to raise companies to 3 within a unique restructuring
money ahead of large commitments for its plan carried out by a US firm, a local France’s Total has officially changed its name
major shareholder, the Saudi government. newspaper reported on Wednesday. to TotalEnergies, in a rebrand meant to reflect
Aramco was widely expected to become a In 2020, State oil operator Kuwait its shift towards low-carbon energy and away
regular bond issuer after its debut $12 billion Petroleum Corporation (KPC) appointed from oil.
bond deal in 2019 was followed by an $8 the US-based consultant Strategy& to carry The shareholders approved the name
billion, five-part transaction in November last out astudy for restructuring which involves change unanimously during a meeting on
year. mergers to reduce the eight operating oil firms May 28. The move, proposed earlier this year,
Aramco did not immediately respond to a in the Gulf country. signals the group’s “strategic transformation”
request for comment. The Arabic language daily Alanba quoted into a broader energy company, it said. The
The oil company last year maintained a $75 a KPC source as saying the parent company Paris-based firm has also adopted a new
billion promised dividend despite lower oil would remain the manager of the country’s “visual identity.”
prices, and is expected to shoulder significant massive oil sector. “Energy is life, we all need it and it’s a
domestic investments that form part of Saudi After restructuring, KPC will supervise source of progress. So today, to contribute
Arabia’s plans to transform the economy. three autonomous companies covering crude to the sustainable development of the planet
“I think it was expected. They need the production and exploration, refining and facing the climate challenge, we are moving
cash to pay the dividends that have been other downstream operations inside Kuwait, forward, together, towards new energies,”
promised, they’ve done it in the past too,” and oil industry operations abroad, the report Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said in a
said a debt banker, speaking on condition of said. statement. “Energy is reinventing itself, and
anonymity. “The US company is expected to finish its this energy journey is ours. Our ambition
One of the sources said the deal could study on Kuwait’s oil sector restricting before is to be a world-class player in the energy
happen in the coming weeks. Qatar Petroleum the end of 2021 after the plan was approved by transition. That is why Total is transforming
is expected to issue bonds by the end of June the Government and the Supreme Petroleum and becoming TotalEnergies.”
that sources have said could go up to $10 Council,” it added. TotalEnergies said its new name and
billion in size. Officials and industry sources in Kuwait, identity embodied the course it had
“It could well be busy,” the source said. which controls the world’s sixth largest oil “resolutely charted for itself” towards net zero
Bloomberg, first to report on the bond deal deposits, said restructuring and merger of emissions. The rebranding comes after Total
earlier on Wednesday, said the debt sale would local hydrocarbon firms would produce many unveiled a three-stage plan last year, under
be through Islamic bonds, or sukuk, and cited benefits, including cutting effort and decision- which it is targeting net-zero emissions in
an anonymous source saying Aramco could making time, saving funds, and preventing Europe by 2050 and a 60% cut in emissions
raise around $5 billion. duplication in projects and operations. for its operations in the rest of the world.
REUTERS In comments in 2020, Kuwait’s then acting While Total is scaling back its oil activities,
Oil Minister Khalid Al-Fadil said that plans its strategy involves an expansion in LNG

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