Petronas raises $6 billion by first bond sale in five years

Malaysia’s Petronas said on Wednesday it raised $6 billion by a multi-tranche senior bond offering, the state oil company’s first such sale in five years.

Malaysian state energy giant’s return to the bond market comes as oil prices trade near 18-year lows after losing more than half their value this year. The company has warned of project delays due to coronavirus-related lockdowns around the world, and other global oil companies have said they are cutting spending and slowing investments as well.

Petronas said it raised $2.25 billion from 10-year conventional notes priced at 3.65%, $2.75 billion from 30-year notes at 4.55%, and $1 billion from 40-year notes at 4.8%.

“There were robust demands for the bonds with the order books reaching $37 billion at the time of pricing, which was one of the largest order books by an Asian issuer ever,” the company said in a statement.

It was the company’s first bond sale since a $5 billion offering in March 2015.

Petronas said the proceeds will used by the parent company or subsidiaries for refinancing, capital expenditures, working capital and general corporate expenses.

Petronas is the sole custodian of the oil and gas resources in Malaysia, which ranks among the world’s top five exporters of liquefied natural gas by capacity.

The oil and gas company is fully owned by the Malaysian government, and according to ratings agency Fitch, has accounted for 15% of the state’s revenue over the last five years.

Its biggest domestic project, the $27 billion refining and petrochemical Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC), suffered a setback last month after a fire and explosion killed five. The project, in which Saudi Aramco is a partner, is set to begin commercial operations this year.

Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is the headquarters of Petronas. Tower One is fully occupied by Petronas and a number of its subsidiaries and associate companies, while the office spaces in Tower Two are mostly available for lease to other companies.

Petronas said the risks of delays to some of its projects were rising due to prolonged coronavirus-related lockdowns around the world.

Petronas, which operates in more than 20 countries including Brazil and the United States, said in an email that it would try to maintain its domestic spending for this year.

The company forecast 2020 domestic capital expenditure of 26 billion ringgit ($6 billion) to 28 billion ringgit, higher than last year.

“The ongoing global spread of the COVID-19 outbreak and collapse in oil prices continue to impact financial markets as well as many economies and industries around the world,” Petronas said in an emailed statement on Monday.

Reuters