The facility was doubled in size to $550 million and will now cover four vessels rather than the two originally envisaged. Mandated lead arrangers were ANZ Investment Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, BNP Paribas, Calyon, Societe Generaleand Sumitomo-Mitsui Banking Corporation. 'In spite of the increase in size, we still have oversubscription and how exactly the debt will be allocated is yet to be finalised,' says a banker. 'We hope to have the deal signed by the end of March.'

RasGas II has ordered four LNG tankers from South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries. The venture has large-scale sales and purchase agreements with Italy's Edisonand India's Petrojet. RasGas II is also working on plans to deliver 15 million t/y into the US (see Special Report, pages 36-42).