Kuwait Energy, the privately held oil and gas firm, is trying to raise $165m from banks in a deal backed by oil fields in Egypt and Ukraine.

The loan has a tenor of five years and is being arranged by Germany’s Deutsche Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a division of the World Bank.

Sources close to the deal say that both regional and international banks are being approached in order to widen the company’s banking group ahead of a potential initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. That move would make it one of the only listed oil and gas firms in the region.

Kuwait Energy aims to use the funds to finance expansion in areas including Russia and Iraq. In May the firm won a contract for the exploration, development and production of an oil field in Basra, Iraq.