White & Case LLP has advised Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (YASREF) Limited and its shareholders, Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), on its US$4.7 billion syndicated loan facilities.

The new loans partially refinance shareholder funds used for the construction of YASREF’s grassroots full conversion oil refinery located in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia that has the capacity to process 400,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day and produces a full range of refined products. The financing combined a US$3.1 billion conventional facility and a US$1.6 billion shari'ah compliant murabaha facility.

"These facilities will enable the sponsors to redeploy their funds towards new projects," said White & Case partner Tom Bartlett. "The achievement of an unsecured loan from 26 local, regional and international financial institutions on an exceptionally tight timetable is a true testament to the strength of both the project and the management team in place at YASREF, and demonstrates the standing the sponsors, Saudi Aramco and Sinopec, have in the market."

White & Case partner Hallam Chow said: "This transaction is an exciting new chapter in the developing cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia, and between Saudi Aramco and Sinopec. In addition to this recent financing, White & Case has advised on a number of stand-out transactions involving Saudi Aramco and Sinopec, including the Fujian Refining and Ethylene Joint Venture Project in China, and indeed the formation of YASREF in 2012."

The YASREF financing follows the successful closing of the 2015 financing for the US$8 billion expansion of an existing, world-scale petroleum refining and petrochemicals complex in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia on which White & Case advised Saudi Aramco.

The White & Case team which advised on the transaction included partners Tom Bartlett, Jason Kerr (both London), Hallam Chow (Hong Kong), and Jason Webber (New York), with support from associates Adrian Lawrence, Alec Johnson, Katy Norman (all London), Ivan Paskal and Emad Zowawi (both Riyadh).