The deadline for banks to respond to requests to finance the Jubail refinery in Saudi Arabia has been delayed until 18 September from 9 September.

The $9.6bn project, sponsored by Saudi Aramco & Total Refining & Petrochemical Company (Satorp), has been modelled on a structure that expects banks to take significant refinery margin risk. Defaults at two large Saudi conglomerates have also led to some banks expecting to have problems getting credit committee approval for the loans.

The financing will be split between a $1.5bn commercial bank tranche, and a $1.5bn Islamic tranche. A further $3.5bn will come from export credit agencies.

The financing is being arranged by France’s Calyon and its Saudi partner Banque Saudi Fransi (MEED 12:07:09).