SEC secures $2.6bn bridge loan

RIYADH: Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) said it has signed a SR9.75 billion ($2.6 billion) international syndicated bridge facility with eight major global banks to fund its future plans including that of a capital expenditure.

The facility is co-financed by eight major international banks including Citibank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Mizuho Bank, Natixis, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Standard Chartered Bank, said the company in a statament to the Saudi bourse Tadawul.

Petrobras owes Brazil billions

BRASILIA: Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petróleo Brasileiro owes the government billions of dollars tied to offshore exploration rights but is unlikely to pay this year, a cabinet minister said.

The government’s 2018 budget does not include any revenue from the so-called 'transfer of rights' area that has sparked a dispute with the company also known as Petrobras, Planning Minister Dyogo Oliveira said in an interview.

Shell prepares to shut Norco refinery

HOUSTON: Royal Dutch Shell is preparing to shut the hydrocracking unit over the weekend at its 225,800 bpd Norco, Louisiana, refinery, said sources familiar with plant operations.

'Shell routinely plans maintenance on its assets in an effort to ensure we continue to operate in a safe and reliable manner,' said company spokesman Ray Fisher, who declined to discuss planned maintenance at the Norco refinery.

The 40,000 bpd hydrocracker is scheduled to be shut for at least a month for the work, the sources said.

Total to buy shares in Kenyan blocks

NAIROBI: Total is to buy shares in three Kenyan oil blocks from AP Moeller-Maersk, the office of Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said.

Britain’s Tullow Oil, and its Canadian partner Africa Oil, discovered commercially viable crude in Turkana region in the far north of Kenya in 2012. AP Moeller-Maersk later bought equity in these blocks.

Full production is expected in early 2021 after a planned $2.1 billion pipeline to transport the crude through the proposed port of Lamu.