The tight margin kept local and regional banks out of the five-year deal. Those that joined are understood to be ABN Amro, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Mizuho Financial Group, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Societe Generale and Sumitomo-Mitsui Banking Corporation.

The bond was launched in late May with a spread of 65 bp over US treasuries and a coupon of 5.579 per cent. Citigroup and Credit Suisse First Boston were the arrangers. The funds raised will be used partly to refinance the $1,200 million NGL-4 financing and for some other QP borrowings.

Now that the deal has cleared the market, the next QP-related financing to hit the market is set to be for the Qatargas 4 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. RBS is the financial adviser (MEED 3:3:06).