Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has confirmed that it is in talks to borrow US$3.4bn loan from an international finance house
PDO managing director Raoul Restucci said, “Our company is in the process of raising a loan to fund its operations in response to the current low oil price environment. Talks are still going on and within next few weeks we will sign the deal.”
The borrowing amount will help to meet the needs of PDO activities for the next nine to twelve months, he added. “We are not going to the government to find funds for our activities in this tough time, we are borrowing it and this will allow the government to redeploy the resources on other projects,” he continued.
According to Reuters, PDO is planning to deploy the entire amount in different kinds of activities in which they got the government funding in the past.
“We are looking to deploy it in oil and gas development, capital and operating cost as we go forward,” Restucci revealed.
Recently, the MD also announced that the company is trying to raise production to 600,000 bpd this year.
Speaking about PDO’s enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects, Restucci noted, “EOR projects are going on very well and at the moment, there is no delay in any of our EOR projects.”
According to him, it is the right time to execute projects because the cost is at its lowest at the moment.
Speaking about PDO’s move to find funds for its activities, Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, said, “Their move to take a loan makes a lot of sense. This step will change the culture and working style of PDO because now they are responsible to this financing firm on their project performances and on company performances, among other things.”
