Turkey’s Koç Tüpras is looking to tap the syndication market for a US$2.2bn loan to finance improvements on its Izmit refinery.

Spain and Italy’s export credit agencies, Cesce and Sace are underwriting the deal which is due to close in October, Sace tells GTR.

Cesce confirmed to GTR that Crédit Agricole CIB is the lead arranger on the deal, but was unable to comment further on the other eight rumoured banks involved in the syndication.

Koç Tüpras’ Izmit refinery accounts for around 40% of Turkish petroleum product consumption.

The refinery processed 8.5 million tonnes of crude oil in 2010 while total product sales, including imports, reached 9.9 million tonnes in 2010.