waltky
Wise ol' monkey
Uncle Ferd wonderin' if dey gonna give us a discount on gasoline...
U.S. Gov't Agency Plans $2.84 Billion Loan for Oil RefineryIn Colombia
Monday, April 18, 2011 - The U.S. Export-Import Bank, an independent agency of the federal government, is now planning a $2.84-billion loan for a massive project to expand and upgrade an oil refinery--in Cartagena, Colombia.
U.S. Gov't Agency Plans $2.84 Billion Loan for Oil RefineryIn Colombia
Monday, April 18, 2011 - The U.S. Export-Import Bank, an independent agency of the federal government, is now planning a $2.84-billion loan for a massive project to expand and upgrade an oil refinery--in Cartagena, Colombia.
The money would go to Reficar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ecopetrol, the Colombian national oil company. This is part of a $5.18 billion refinery and upgrade project in Cartagena, Colombia supplying petroleum products to the domestic and export markets, the Export-Import Bank said in a statement. The U.S. government-controlled bank says the $2.84-billion in financing it plans to undertake will be the second largest project it has ever done. The largest was $3 billion in financing for a liquid natural gas project in Papua New Guinea.
The statement released by the bank said that on April 7 the banks presidentially-appointed board of directors had voted to grant preliminary approval for a $2.84 billion direct loan/loan guarantee for the Colombian refinery project. Export-Import Bank Spokesman Phil Cogan told CNSNews.com that the bank could not say at this time how much of the $2.84 billion would be directly loaned to the Colombian refinery company and how much would be in loans guaranteed by the bank--although he expected it to be a combination.
It is conceivable it could be all a direct loan, said Cogan. Right now it is set up so that the board could do either a complete direct loan or a combination of direct loan and guarantee. That hasnt been determined yet. Since December, the bank has also approved almost $880 million in other loans and loan guarantees to Reficars parent company, Ecopetrol. So, in total, if the new $2.84 billion in loans is finalized, the Columbian national oil company and its wholly owned subsidiaries will have received $3.72 billion in financing backed by a U.S.-government-controlled entity within a span of five months.
Just last February and December the Bank approved nearly $880 million in export financing to help finance the sale of goods and services from various U.S. exporters to Ecopetrol S.A., Colombia's national oil company, Export-Import Bank President Fred P. Hochberg said in the banks statement announcing preliminary approval of the refinery loan. Export-Import Bank Spokesman Cogan stressed in an interview that although Reficar is wholly owned by Ecopetrol it remains a separate entity, and is considered as such for Export-Import Bank financing purposes.
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