EX-IM BANK APPROVES FINANCING FOR U.S. OIL INDUSTRY EXPORTS TO RUSSIA'S TYUMEN OIL COMPANY
Washington, D.C.: The board of directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today approved $490 million in long-term loan guarantees in support of U.S. exports of oil refinery and oil field equipment and engineering services from ABB Lummus Global, based in Bloomfield, N.J., Halliburton Company in Houston, Texas, and more than 25 other U.S. suppliers to the Tyumen Oil Company in Moscow, Russia, for two projects: the Ryazan oil refinery in Ryazan near Moscow, and the Samotlor oil field in western Siberia. The two transactions will support U.S. jobs in Texas, Oklahoma, California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.
These transactions represent Ex-Im Bank's commitment to doing business in Russia at a unique time when the U.S. business community has tremendous opportunities to export capital equipment and services to this market, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman James A. Harmon at a press conference held at Ex-Im Bank headquarters today. Ex-Im Bank is serious about providing support for creditworthy transactions to keep U.S. exporters competitive and maintaining a level playing field for them in Russia.
The transactions approved today are:
Ryazan Oil Refinery
Ex-Im Bank approved a $197.6 million loan guarantee to support the financing of a $187.5 million refinery modernization project to be implemented by ABB Lummus Global in Bloomfield, N.J., for the JSC Ryazan Oil Refinery in Ryazan, Russia, near Moscow. Other U.S. suppliers include Criterion Catalyst Company, Asea Brown Boveri Inc., UOP Engineered Products, BW/IP International Inc., and DI - Compressor Group, all in Houston, Texas; and Connell Limited Partnership in Tulsa, Okla.
The borrowers are the JSC Ryazan Oil Refinery and its parent company, Tyumen Oil Company. The guaranteed lenders are ABB Structured Finance (Americas) Inc., in Houston, Texas, and ABB Export Bank, in Zurich, Switzerland.
Samotlor Oil Field
Ex-Im Bank approved a $292 million loan guarantee to support $279 million of U.S. exports by Halliburton Company in Dallas, Texas, Halliburton Energy Services in Duncan, Texas, and more than 25 other U.S. suppliers of oil field equipment and services to Tyumen Oil Company for the rehabilitation of the Samotlor oil field in western Siberia.
The borrowers are Samotlorneftegaz and its parent company, Tyumen Oil Company, which is also the majority shareholder of the Russian oil production association Nizhnevartovskneftegaz (NNG), in Nizhnevartovsk in western Siberia. The guaranteed lender is Commerzbank AG in New York, N.Y.
Both transactions are amendments of earlier authorizations that were approved in February 1997 (Ryazan refinery) and August 1994 (Samotlor oil field) under Ex-Im Bank's Oil and Gas Framework Agreement (OGFA) but were not implemented. Under OGFA, hard currency proceeds from export sales of oil or refined products are used to repay financing supported by Ex-Im Bank. The proceeds are deposited by the oil and product purchasers directly into escrow accounts in western banks. This type of financing structure minimizes the risk of nonpayment. Ex-Im Bank has authorized financing in support of nearly $1 billion of U.S. exports under OGFA since the agreement was implemented.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent federal government agency that provides loans, loan guarantees and export credit insurance to support U.S. exports to developing markets around the world. In fiscal year 1999, Ex-Im Bank supported nearly $17 billion of U.S. exports to markets worldwide.