The Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) has arranged a US$3bn loan in favour of Abu Dhabi’s state oil company, an exporter of crude oil to Japan.

JBIC, a public finance institution, is providing US$2.1bn of the total financing sum, with the remainder being lent by commercial lenders SMBC, Mizuho, MUFG and HSBC’s Tokyo branch.

The loan, signed on November 17, is the sixth that JBIC has arranged for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), the last being in January 2018. A JBIC spokesperson declined to disclose the tenor of the loan when asked by GTR, but previous deals have been between two to three years’ duration.

“This facility is intended to provide necessary support to Adnoc in ensuring stable imports of crude oil by Japanese companies,” JBIC says in a statement.

“Abu Dhabi has been a stable and important supply source of crude oil to Japan for more than 40 years,” JBIC says, adding that the emirate is “very important for Japan’s energy resource strategy”.

JBIC, which is also Japan’s export credit agency, says it also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Adnoc focused on “decarbonisation, energy transition, and energy efficiency” and spurring collaboration between the oil company and Japanese firms.

Abu Dhabi has strong potential for renewable energy and carbon capture and storage projects, JBIC says, and the MOU will also contribute to the creation of a supply chain for hydrogen and ammonia.

Adnoc’s trading arm signed a US$1.2bn credit facility with seven commercial lenders in September to support growth in new markets, which the company said was two times oversubscribed.