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Abu Dhabi / Reuters
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is expected to issue as early as this week a project bond in the region of $3 billion, in what would be the United Arab Emirates oil major’s first public debt issue, sources familiar with the
matter said on Tuesday.
The bond, with a maturity longer than 10 years, would be sold by one of ADNOC’s subsidiaries, not by the holding company.
State-owned ADNOC, which manages almost all the proven oil reserves in the UAE, has mandated banks including Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC and JP Morgan to arrange the debt sale, said the sources.
“ADNOC is expanding its strategic partnership model and creating new investment opportunities across all areas of its value chain, as well as more active management of its portfolio of assets,†said an ADNOC spokesman when asked about the company’s bond plans.
ADNOC’s debt raising exercises are the latest sign of a change in the expansion strategies of energy companies in the Middle East, which are adjusting to an era of lower oil prices.