Aramco Draws on Export Finance as Bank Loans Wither: Arab Credit

Middle Eastern and North African companies planning $740 billion in energy projects will need to tap foreign export credit agencies and local banks as commercial lending to the industry slumps to a nine-year low.

Loans for facilities such as refineries and power plants may dwindle to $13 billion this year, down from a record $44 billion in 2010, as European banks curtail exposure to the region, said Arab Petroleum Investments Corp., a multilateral investment bank. Companies in 18 nations from Morocco to Oman have paid an average of 190 basis points above the London Interbank Offered Rate for loans this year, up from an average of 157 basis points from 2007 through 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show.