MOSCOW, September 19 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom Neft [RTS: SIBN], Russian gas giant Gazprom's oil division, said Wednesday it was set to secure a three-year syndicated loan worth up to $2.2 billion to expand production and refining.
A syndicate of banks, comprising of ÀBN AMRO Bank N.V., Calyon, Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. and Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, act as bookrunners for the loan borrowed under Libor, Britain's main three-month interbank lending rate, which now stands at 6.82%, plus 0.75%.
Gazprom Neft, known as Sibneft before it was taken over by Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] in September 2005, reported its US GAAP net profit increase by 31%, year-on-year, to $3.7 billion in 2006.
Gazprom owns 75% of shares in the company, which is currently Russia's fifth largest in terms of output, producing 32.7 million metric tons of oil last year.