Saudi Aramco, Sinopec’s Yasref refining venture secures $4.7B loan

DUBAI, April 15 (Reuters) -- An oil refining joint venture between national oil firm Saudi Aramco and China's Sinopec has obtained a $4.7 billion syndicated loan to refinance shareholder funds used for its construction, the venture said on Friday.

Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Co. (Yasref), owned 62.5% by Aramco and the rest by Sinopec, said the unsecured loan was obtained from 26 local, regional and international financial institutions, and was oversubscribed.

Yasref, which operates a 400,000-bpd refinery next to the Red Sea, began working at full capacity last July. In December, bankers told Reuters that Yasref was seeking the loan to replace some cash which Aramco had invested to build it, so that Aramco could use the money elsewhere.

The new loan includes a U.S. dollar-denominated, seven-year term facility totalling $3.1 billion from 17 regional and international institutions, priced at a margin of 105 basis points over the London interbank offered rate, Yasref said.

It also includes a seven-year term facility of 6 billion Saudi riyals ($1.6 billion) from nine local financial institutions, at a margin of 100 bps over the Saudi interbank offered rate.