The FINANCIAL -- The Export-Import Bank of the United States has authorized $1.2 billion in export financing in four separate
transactions to support the export of U.S. goods and services to
Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico’s national oil and gas company.
The amount includes a $200 million small-business facility, which will support exports from U.S. small businesses.
For the first time, Pemex will offer Ex-Im-guaranteed bond issuances to capital markets to fund the transactions. Pemex anticipates four-to-seven bond offerings that will occur from June to September 2012. In the event the funding cost is prohibitive, Pemex may exercise the option to seek Ex-Im direct loans.
The Bank’s approval will enable the American exporters involved, most of which are headquartered in Texas, California, and Louisiana, to supply their products, equipment and services to Pemex oil and gas projects. The transactions will support an estimated 8,500 jobs.
"Ex-Im Bank is pleased to partner with Pemex yet again to finance the purchase of U.S. goods and services to Mexico," said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. "The financing support will directly benefit U.S. small businesses in the oil and gas industry, an industry that is absolutely vital to the growth of our nation’s economy."
The Mexican projects involved in these latest financing transactions are the Cantarell Complex, Mexico's largest oil field; the Strategic Gas Program, one of Mexico's largest gas programs; and the New Projects of Pemex Exploration and Production (PEP), a program devoted to onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration ventures.
Ex-Im Bank's financing was necessary to enable U.S. exporters to compete for Pemex contracts against foreign companies backed by their governments’ export credit agencies (ECAs). Each of the four transactions has a 10-year repayment term that matches terms offered by other ECAs.
Pemex ranks as Ex-Im Bank’s top borrower. Since 1998, the Bank has approved approximately $10.6 billion in financing to support Pemex’s activities in the oil and gas sector.
According to The Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Bank's four transactions will increase its total credit exposure in Mexico, one of the Bank’s nine key markets, to $6.3 billion.
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