Mexico’s state-owned oil and gas monopoly Pemex is on the point of signing a $1.25 billion syndicated loan backed by around 30 banks, Loan Pricing Corp. said, citing market sources.

The credit line will consist of two tranches — a 3-year working capital tranche and a 5-year trade-related tranche, New York-based LPC said.
“It’s pretty much completed. Roughly 30 banks have committed to the $1.25 billion transaction and it should be signed fairly shortly,” said a source at LPC.
The lead arrangers of the loan are Bank of America Corp, Britain’s Barclays Plc, Germany’s Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank, France’s BNP Paribas and Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group, the source said.
Part of the financing program Pemex has announced for 2004, the credit line will be used for general corporate expenses, capital spending and refinancing debt, an industry source in Mexico told Reuters recently.
Pemex declined to comment.
The company has said it plans to raise around $7 billion to $8 billion in external financing this year, with up to $2.5 billion coming from foreign capital markets, up to $2.5 billion from Mexican capital markets, around $1.3 billion in export credit agreements and about $1.8 billion in bank loans.
In all, the company sees 2004 investments in exploration, production, infrastructure and refining totalling a record $12 billion, up from $10.7 billion last year.