Qatar to raise US$5 billion to fund refinery in Malaysia

Qatar Islamic Bank has agreed to study a plan to raise funds for a US$5 billion refinery and petrochemicals project in Malaysia, the bank said. Under an initial agreement signed with a Malaysian unit of Gulf Petroleum Ltd., Qatar Islamic “would study and eventually lead a consortium of banks and financial institutions to arrange the funding covering both financing and equity elements of the project,” the bank said in a statement. Gulf Petroleum is leading a consortium of Gulf banking and energy firms to build the complex, intended to serve as a regional hub for its Asia-Pacific activities, the company has said. Gulf Petroleum has said it aims to invest between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion in the project’s first phase to build an oil refinery with a capacity of between 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) and 150,000 bpd. (June 15, 2008)