News

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today approved a $200 million long-term guarantee supporting the sale by approximately 160 U.S. suppliers, most of them located in Texas, of various equipment and services for Mexico's Burgos Basin gas field development project.

The key suppliers on the export sale include Dowell Product Center, Sugar Land, TX; BJ Services Co., Houston, TX; Schlumberger Technology Corp., Sugar Land, TX; and The Hanover Compressor Co., Houston, TX.

This export sale will help sustain hundreds of U.S. jobs throughout Texas and in states such as Arkansas and Kentucky, said Ex-Im Bank Vice Chairman Eduardo Aguirre, Jr. It also will have a ripple effect on sub-suppliers throughout the country.

PEMEX Exploracion Y Produccion, Mexico's government-owned oil and gas exploration and production company, is working on phase 3 of the Burgos Basin project to exploit available gas reserves to meet demand in northern Mexico. The U.S. equipment will support such activities as seismic studies, well drilling and completion, and gas pipeline construction.

The current transaction is the third partial conversion of an Ex-Im Bank preliminary commitment approved last September 30, for a $1.1 billion credit facility to finance U.S. exports for four PEMEX projects. The guaranteed lender on the current transaction is Barclays Bank International, New York, NY. The primary source of repayment is the consolidated operations of PEMEX.

Ex-Im Bank authorized two transactions related to earlier phases of the Burgos Basin project in 1998 and 2001.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to growth markets throughout the world, by providing loans, guarantees, and insurance. In fiscal year 2002, Ex-Im Bank authorized $1.56 billion in financing to support U.S. exports to Mexico, and worldwide authorized $10.1 billion in financing to support $13 billion of U.S. exports.