Egypt’s state-owned oil company Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is looking to select lenders for a US$2bn 58-month debt financing, according to market sources.

The company has requested bids from banks, and EGPC is set to choose the winning bid by the end of January. It is not known yet whether the borrower will opt for a pre-export loan or not.

This potential US$2bn deal follows two pre-export deals signed for the company in 2009. In October last year, EGPC secured a US$275mn pre-export finance (PXF) deal with a tenor of one year, secured on the proceeds of assigned eligible export contracts of crude oil, naphtha and other acceptable refined products.

In November, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and Morgan Stanley raised a US$900mn 42-month PXF loan in favour of Egypt’s Petroleum Export III as the borrower, and EGPC as the exporter. The facility was opened up to syndication with 15 banks participating in the transaction.

EGPC is the economic authority of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and has the same legal status as other government entities, such as Central Bank of Egypt and the Suez Canal Authority. It is responsible for the development and exploitation of Egypt’s petroleum resources, and for ensuring the supply of the various refined petroleum products within Egypt.