MUSCAT: Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the country’s top oil and gas E&P company, has obtained a $4 billion loan from international banks, part of a rush of foreign borrowing by Oman as low oil prices strain state finances.
The five-year pre-export facility is the company’s first international loan, and it was priced at 160 basis points over the Libor rate, state-owned PDO said on June 29.
“This competitive new source of funding will enable us to reduce reliance on government funding, so that it can redeploy resources to other areas of the economy,” said Raoul Restucci, PDO’s managing director.
The loan will help to finance new oil and gas facilities in Oman, PDO said, adding that it planned to invest more than $20 billion in the next five years.
Its projects include the Rabab Harweel facility, which will develop 240 million barrels (MMbbl) of oil and 100 MMbbl of condensate while exporting 1 trillion cubic feet of non-associated gas when production starts in 2019.
