Kuwait's KNPC in talks for $6.4b in loans for Clean Fuel project

DUBAI — Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) is in final stages of talks with international institutions for $6.4 billion in the second tranche of loans to finance its multibillion-dollar Clean Fuel project, Kuwait news agency (KUNA) reported on Sunday.

The first portion, signed on April 28, was worth 1.2 billion dinars ($3.97 billion) with Kuwaiti lenders led by National Bank of Kuwait and Kuwait Finance House.

The state-owned KNPC refiner is in the process of final legal reviews for the foreign loans and will determine the pricing and interest rates, KUNA quoted the company's financial advisor Khalid Al Ajeel as saying.

International lenders for the second tranche will include credit agencies from Europe, South Korea and Japan, he said.

Part of the country's 30-billion-dinar economic development plan, the Clean Fuels Project will upgrade and expand two of the Arab Gulf state's largest existing refineries with a focus on producing higher-value products such as diesel and kerosene for exporting purposes.