#Saudi Aramco sends request to banks for pipeline deal financing - sources | Reuters

Saudi Aramco sends request to banks for pipeline deal financing - sources | Reuters

Saudi Aramco has sent a request for proposals to banks for financing it wants to offer to investors looking to lease its pipelines, three sources said, a sign the oil giant is progressing with plans to extract value from its assets.

Aramco, which is being advised by JPMorgan and Japan’s MUFG on the financing, has sent the request over the past few weeks to its relationship banks, meaning to banks that have already lent to the company, said two of the sources. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is private.

It is asking lenders to submit commitments for a loan that could go up to $10 billion in size, said the two sources.

Aramco and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to requests for comment. MUFG declined to comment.

The planned pipeline transaction would be similar to infrastructure deals signed over the last two years by Abu Dhabi’s national oil company ADNOC, which raised billions of dollars by leasing its oil and gas pipeline assets to investors, sources have previously said.