By Davide Barbuscia
DUBAI (Reuters) - State-run Oman Oil Co is set to raise an $850 million (£652 million) revolving credit facility, sources familiar with the matter said.
The unsecured loan will be provided by a consortium of more than 10 banks and will be finalised over the next few weeks, the sources said.
Oman Oil has been a regular borrower of U.S. dollar-denominated loans over the past few years, in line with a wider push by the Omani government to raise external funding to reduce pressure on its finances, strained by a slump in oil prices.
The $850 million facility will refinance an $850 million revolving loan due in 2019, said the sources. Oman Oil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oman Oil completed in July last year a $2 billion financing which included a $1.15 billion revolving credit facility with a five-year maturity and the amendment of the terms of the $850 million revolving loan maturing in 2019.
The $850 million loan was part of a dual-tranche $1.85 billion financing the company raised in 2014.
The financing last year was provided by a group of banks including Credit Agricole (PA:CAGR), Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn), First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, Natixis, Societe Generale (PA:SOGN), Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, sources told Reuters at the time.
The new $850 million transaction is self-arranged, said the sources, meaning that the borrower is coordinating the fundraising by putting together a group of banks.