Russian oil company Rosneft is set to close its structured crude oil pre-export credit facility at an increased total of US$3.425bn. Rosneft originally aimed to raise US$2bn, but managed to secure US$3bn before it launched general syndication.

The facility was signed at senior level in March with 14 banks agreeing to lead arrange and fully underwrite the facility.

The senior group of arrangers consist of ABN Amro, BBVA, Barclays Bank, BayernLB, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, ING Bank, JPMorgan, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Orgresbank (part of Nordea), Soci&eaute;té Générale Sumitomo Mitsui Finance Dublin, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, and WestLB.

DZ Bank and Calyon also joined the facility as arrangers ahead of general syndication. Deutsche Bank is the facility agent and acted as the coordinator. The facility carries a tenor of five years, and features a margin of 95 basis points over Libor. It is secured by export contracts for sale of crude oil.

Proceeds of the US$3bn facility were disbursed in March, and were used to repay bridge loans raised last year to finance acquisitions made in 2007.

Those working close to the deal have remarked on the top heavy nature of the transaction, with general syndication only raising an additional US$425mn. Although it is accepted as a relatively successful syndication, some suggest that it may have been more of a struggle to find additional banks to participate.

In terms of production, Rosneft is the largest oil company in Russia, producing over 100mn tons of oil per year. It is also a key player in the Russian retail refinery products market.