EXCLUSIVE: Banks to raise loan for Iraq refinery

06 December 2017
Karbala Refinery has a design capacity of 140,000 barrels a-day

Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) has received the mandate to raise a $2bn loan for the Karbala Refinery along with Bahrain-based Ahli United Bank and Germany’s Deutsche Bank.

The under-construction Karbala Refinery, which has a budget of $6.04bn, is Iraq’s first new refinery in three decades.

The Iraqi government approved the $6.04bn engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract award for the scheme to South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction in January 2014. The facility has a design capacity of 140,000 barrels a day.

The construction has faced delays  due to a combination of funding issues and the unrest around much of Iraq between 2014 and 2016.

TBI will co-manage, along with Deutsche Bank and US Citigroup, the country’s planned second eurobond sale in 2018.

Iraq’s Central Bank plans to raise $2bn through the global bond markets next year, following the first successful sale of $1bn eurobonds in August.

TBI has recently opened a representative office at the Abu Dhabi Global Market and has applied for a licence to operate a full-fledged branch in Saudi Arabia.

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