Beijing, September 6, 2007 -- Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Company Limited (FREP), the joint venture formed by Sinopec Corp., Fujian Province and subsidiaries of Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil in March 2007, executed loan documentation for the financing of the project with a lender group today in Beijing.
The joint venture is an integrated refining and petrochemicals project with foreign participation in China. The lender group consists of eleven major PRC banks plus Sinopec Finance Company. The debt facilities for FREP are arranged on a limited recourse basis, comprising both long term and working capital facilities in Renminbi and US dollars. The facilities amount to about RMB30 billion yuan (or about US$4 billion), and represent the largest project financing to-date for a Sino-foreign joint venture in China. Tenor for the long term facilities will be 20 years for Renminbi and 15 years for US dollars. The financing is secured following a competitive tendering process involving both Chinese and international banks.
Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum Company Limited (SSPC), a fuels marketing joint venture formed by Sinopec Corp. and subsidiaries of ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco at the same time as FREP, has also closed its financing recently. The debt facilities for SSPC are all in Renminbi, and are provided by two PRC banks. They also include long term and working capital facilities with an aggregate value of about RMB3.3 billion.
FREP is owned by Fujian Petrochemical Company Limited (50%), ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical Company Limited (25%) and Saudi Aramco Sino Company Limited (25%). The activities for the expansion of the existing refinery in Fujian Province and the addition of new petrochemical facilities are expected to be completed in early 2009.
SSPC is formed by Sinopec Corp. (55%), ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical Company Limited (22.5%) and Saudi Aramco Sino Company Limited (22.5%). It manages and operates approximately 750 service stations and a network of terminals in Fujian Province.
