Qatar Petroleum has raised $12.5 billion in a multi-tranche bond offering, the proceeds from which will be used to support the company’s growth plans, particularly the North Field expansion projects over the coming few years.

The RegS/144A bond offering (sales to investors outside the United States in offshore transactions) consists of 5-, 10- and 20-year conventional tranches, and a dual-listed 30-year Formosa tranche. Strong interest and favourable market conditions together with its outstanding credit ratings, allowed Qatar Petroleum to achieve the following positive outcome:

•    5-year $1.5 billion at UST+50bps (Coupon: 1.375%)
•    10-year $3.5 billion at UST+90bps (Coupon: 2.250%)
•    20-year $3.5 billion at a Yield of 3.15% (Coupon: 3.125%)
•    30-year $4.0 billion at a Yield of 3.30% (Coupon: 3.300%)

This is the largest US dollar fixed rate oil and gas offering, the largest corporate issuance in the MENA region, and the largest corporate Formosa tranche raised globally.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, The President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said:  “The outcome of this offering is a strong testament to Qatar Petroleum’s disciplined approach as an investor and formidable standing not only as the world’s largest LNG producer, but also within the capital and financial markets.”

Qatar Petroleum recently held a virtual roadshow for its transaction and met with over 130 international investors over a two-day period. These interactions resulted in significant interest from global insurers, asset managers, pension funds and bank treasuries, which resulted in a high quality orderbook, which saw participation from over 500 investors and demand peaking above $40 billion.

Al-Kaabi added: “The North Field expansion projects will solidify Qatar Petroleum’s leading role in the LNG industry as well as in the energy transition. We take special pride in the fact that investors recognized this role, the importance of our LNG projects and the bright future of our LNG industry, and that they have expressed overwhelming interest in this unique offering.”

“I would like to thank all the banks and financial and investment institutions that participated in this successful program. I would also like to thank Qatar Petroleum’s team for the excellent preparation and execution of this program,” he concluded.

Qatar Petroleum worked with a group of leading global financial institutions on this transaction, including:

•    Citi and J.P. Morgan as Global Coordinators;
•    BofA Securities, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, MUFG and QNB Capital as Active Bookrunners; and
•    Credit Suisse, who acted as Passive Bookrunner. – TradeArabia News Service