Barclays Capital says it is eyeing a number of business initiatives in the Gulf including ones in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia for a share of the Middle East's project finance opportunities worth some $41 billion.
The initiatives include the Umm al-Nar (IWPP) in Abu Dhabi, the Dolphin gas pipeline from Qatar to the UAE, the third and fourth trains at Qatar's Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company (RasGas) and the first of what may be a series of gas-to-liquid schemes in Qatar.
"There is no shortage of opportunities in the region's project finance market and Barclays Capital will be looking to play a leading role in most of them," said Elie Khouri, CEO, Barclays Capital, Middle East & North Africa. Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC.
Barclays Capital, the leading international arranger of GCC project and asset-backed corporate finance, has had a series of successful deals including its role in the $1.38 billion conventional debt for Abu Dhabi's Shuweihat power and water desalination project.
Khouri said Barclays Capital raised $ 2.6 billion last year for four Middle East schemes for which it worked as one of the lead arrangers. These included Shuwaihat, the Ras Laffan power scheme, the fourth phase of the Fertiliser Company in Qatar and the Suez and East Port Said power stations in Egypt.
"Barclays Capital has a balance sheet of $530 billion and some 5,000 employees worldwide," said Khouri. "Our global clout combined with effective deployment of our manpower and resources in the Middle East has put Barclays Capital in good stead in its pursuit of project finance opportunities in the region.
Khouri said his bank was keeping a close watch on the Saudi gas initiative, which will require a minimum investment of $25 billion in gas extraction and downstream sectors.
"Major international oil companies typically do not use project financing, but there is likely to be scope for financing the investments to be made by Saudi's Aramco in the various elements of the gas initiative schemes," said Khouri.
He added that his bank was currently working on a $900 million leasing venture project for the Saudi military in Riyadh, one of the largest deals of its kind involving foreign banks in the Kingdom.
"Saudi Arabia is already one of the region's most lucrative markets for Barclays Capital and we are looking forward to the passage of new capital market legislation that would allow foreign banks to set up sales offices in the kingdom," he said.
Qatar is another GCC market Barclays Capital will target over the next few months, according to Khouri. "Qatar's five GTL proposals put the country's project stream over the next few years up to $15 billion. We intend to be a major player there as well."
Khouri also said Barclays Capital's recent selection as advisor for Egypt's $800 million wireless local loop project that would be carried out on a revenue-sharing basis between Telecom Egypt and the Raneen Consortium was testimony to the bank's strong North African presence.
"By taking on the Raneen role, Barclays Capital is showing the long-term commitment to the regional market that has been an essential ingredient in our successes over the past two years," said Khouri.
