Saudi Satorp Refinery to Be Completed in 2013, CEO Says
Saudi Aramco Total Refining & Petrochemical Co., known as Satorp, plans to complete building its refinery by the end of 2013, said Chief Executive Officer Fawwaz Nawwab.
“This is a very good project, a secure project,” Nawwab said in Riyadh after a meeting with potential investors. “The risk factor is very low and there is a lot of cash in the kingdom.”
A joint venture between Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Total SA (FP) started offering today 3.75 billion riyals ($1 billion) of Islamic bonds to investors in the Arab world’s largest economy. The sukuk offering will help finance Satorp’s 400,000 barrel-a- day refinery and petrochemicals complex, which is being built at an estimated cost of $14 billion in Jubail on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia.
“Sixty-eight percent of the refinery’s engineering, procurement and construction has been completed globally as of today,” Nawwab said.
Satorp’s sukuk will mature about 14 years from the date of completion, and may have a semi-annual floating-rate coupon, according to Usman Sikandar, co-Head Investment Banking at Calyon Saudi Fransi Ltd.
The sale, to be completed on Oct. 8, will be the fourth Shariah-compliant issue from Saudi Arabia this year, bringing total sukuk sales in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to $4.7 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mourad Haroutunian in Riyadh at mharoutunian@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net
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