December 16, 2005
Pequiven and ExxonMobil to seek US$1.8bn financing for olefins joint venture

(BNamericas.com) - "Venezuela's state petrochemicals firm Pequiven and US oil major ExxonMobil plan to raise US$1.8bn in financial markets for a 50/50 U$3bn project to manufacture olefins, Pequiven director Raul Romay told BNamericas. Selling debt is the most likely option. 'The partners will put up 40%, we will seek to finance the remaining 60%,' Romay said.

'We are sounding the market, checking the appetite for an issuing like that. We did something similar in 2000 to restructure the debt at Fertinitro,' Romay said. Fertinitro is Venezuela 's largest fertilizer plant, where Pequiven partners with Koch Industries.

Of the remaining US$1.2bn needed to complete the project, Pequiven's US$600mn has already been set aside, he added.

The Project Development Agreement (PDA) signed in August last year established 12-18 months for the first stage, which involves selecting technology, Romay said.

If all goes according to plan, the partners will break ground at the project site in the José industrial complex in eastern Venezuela 'late 2006' with plant construction starting in earnest early 2007, he said".