#Saudi Aramco extends $10 bln loan on improved terms, sources say | Reuters

Saudi Aramco extends $10 bln loan on improved terms, sources say | Reuters

Saudi Arabian oil giant Aramco (2222.SE) has secured a one-year extension to a $10 billion loan it raised last year, negotiating improved terms in the process, three sources told Reuters.

Aramco has borrowed tens of billions of dollars in the past few years to keep up with Saudi Arabia's financing needs in an era of lower oil prices.

This is in addition to a public sale of a minority stake in the company and the recent leasing of some of its pipeline assets for $12.4 billion.

It has over the past few months renegotiated and extended a $10 billion one-year loan it raised in May last year, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The loan had a one-year extension option, but instead of paying a higher interest rate to extend the deal - as agreed as part of that facility - it has asked for better terms to reflect improved market conditions, the sources said.

The pricing is tighter than the original loan's due to a "COVID premium" that resulted from depressed market conditions last year, one of the sources said.