Saudi Aramco Announces Completion of $6 Billion Bond Issuance

FILE PHOTO: The Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at Hyvolution exhibition in Paris, France, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at Hyvolution exhibition in Paris, France, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
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Saudi Aramco Announces Completion of $6 Billion Bond Issuance

FILE PHOTO: The Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at Hyvolution exhibition in Paris, France, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at Hyvolution exhibition in Paris, France, February 1, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Saudi Aramco announced on Thursday that it has completed a bond issuance of $6 billion.

The issuance is comprised of three tranches of USD-denominated senior unsecured notes under Aramco’s Global Medium Term Note Program (GMTN), Aramco said in a statement.

According to the statement, the tranches include $2 billion senior notes maturing in 2034 with a coupon rate of 5.250%, $2 billion senior notes maturing in 2054 with a coupon rate of 5.750%, and $2 billion senior notes maturing in 2064 with a coupon rate of 5.875%.

The transaction, said the statement, was priced on July 10, and the notes are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The offering was more than six times oversubscribed, based on the initial targeted size of $5 billion.

The transaction received strong demand from a diverse base of investment-grade focused institutional investors. All three tranches were favorably priced with a negative new issue premium, reflecting Aramco’s strong credit profile.

“We are pleased with the strong interest and level of engagement from investors globally, both existing and new,” said Executive Vice President of Finance & CFO Ziad Al-Murshed.

“Our order book exceeded $33 billion at its peak, reflecting Aramco’s exceptional financial resilience and fortress balance sheet. Achieving a negative issue premium across all tranches is a testament to our unique credit proposition,” he said.

“We have consistently demonstrated our financial discipline while delivering on shareholder value and business growth, and we aim to maintain a strong investment-grade credit rating across business cycles,” Al-Murshed added.



Oil Retreats as US and China Growth Concerns Weigh

A view shows the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia August 12, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo
A view shows the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia August 12, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo
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Oil Retreats as US and China Growth Concerns Weigh

A view shows the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia August 12, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo
A view shows the crude oil terminal Kozmino on the shore of Nakhodka Bay near the port city of Nakhodka, Russia August 12, 2022. REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo

Oil slipped on Monday, weighed down by Moody's downgrade of the US sovereign credit rating and official data that showed slowing growth in China's industrial output and retail sales.

Both developments raised concerns over the outlook for the world's two biggest economies and oil consumers a week after Beijing and Washington's agreement to roll back most tariffs on each other's goods pushed oil prices higher.

"The weaker than expected Chinese data is not helping crude oil, although I would describe the setback as modest," said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo, Reuters reported.

Brent crude futures lost 57 cents, or 0.9%, to $64.84 a barrel by 1146 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped by 54 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.95. The nearby June WTI contract expires on Tuesday.

Both contracts rose more than 1% last week.

Also weighing on the market were comments from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that President Donald Trump will impose tariffs at the rate he threatened last month on trading partners that do not negotiate in "good faith".

"Today's weakness is simply a continuation of crude's wild ride going nowhere, with the latest move triggered by the Moody's downgrade and not least Scott Bessent's warning," said Ole Hansen of Saxo Bank.

The official Chinese data on Monday showed growth in industrial output slowed in April, though performance was still better than economists had expected.

Investors are keeping an eye on progress in the Iran-US nuclear talks, with uncertainty over the outcome limiting losses in oil prices.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that any deal must include an agreement not to enrich uranium, a comment that swiftly drew criticism from Tehran.

"The US-Iran nuclear negotiations are not clear cut and may take many months," said John Evans of oil broker PVM.