Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced on Monday the closing of the bond issuance of ADCOP with $3 billion value.
The issuance is considered one of the largest non-sovereign bond offerings in the history of the Middle East. It was done in accordance with ADNOC's strategy for smart development, aiming at a more proactive and flexible management of assets and capital structure.
ADCOP owns an approximately 406 km pipeline that carries ADNOC Onshore’s crude oil from a center in Abu Dhabi to the Fujairah oil export terminal. This port provides access to international shipping routes and markets.
ADNOC Onshore is the leading onshore producer within the ADNOC Group.
The pipeline is one of the most strategic assets of the oil industry, which allows for a significant proportion of the UAE’s total crude oil production to be transported from Abu Dhabi directly to the Arabian Sea.
UAE Minister of State and ADNOC Group CEO Sultan al-Jaber said: “The substantial international demand for this offering and very attractive pricing positively reflects the UAE’s stable investment environment, as well as ADNOC’s new and progressive approach to its long-term financing strategy."
Commenting on the transaction, he stated it is a clear and tangible example of the steps taken by ADNOC to proactively manage portfolio of assets including the infrastructure base in order to drive and maximize value across the business.
"This bond represents an important, initial milestone in our efforts to fully optimize our capital structure in a smarter, more efficient and flexible manner. Importantly, this transaction enables ADNOC, for the first time, to access the international debt capital markets - thus opening an increased range of highly compelling and viable options for the long-term strategic financing of the ADNOC Group," he added.
Jaber stressed that the bonds demonstrate the expansion of ADNOC's partnership model and represents an opportunity for institutional and infrastructure investors to partner and invest alongside ADNOC in selected projects.
Since 2012, the pipeline has been operating and in 2016 its average production reached about 615 thousand barrels per day. The pipeline is designed to transport 1.5 million bpd of crude oil, with an ability to increase to 1.8 million bpd through the use of drag-reducing agents.
The pipeline’s throughput is supported by the stable onshore crude oil production base of ADNOC Onshore, which has an oil concession with more than 37 years remaining to produce oil from 11 onshore oil fields in Abu Dhabi.
Last July, ADNOC announced a new initiative program to expand its strategic partnership model and creating new investment opportunities in all fields, as well as proactively managing its portfolio of assets and capital.
The offering was significantly oversubscribed, by more than three and a half times, exceeding $11 billion in orders, with strong demand from both international and regional accounts.
