News

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today approved a $400 million long-term loan guarantee to support U.S. exports of equipment and services to Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) of Mumbai, India, for its onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration and production activities in the Krishna Godavari Basin in the Bay of Bengal.

RIL will use the Ex-Im Bank-guaranteed financing for its purchases of U.S. engineering services, oil field equipment, offshore platform support, and drill and well services. A small portion of the financing will be used to support ongoing work at the Jamnagar refinery, which received Ex-Im Bank support in 2007 and is currently under construction. The primary U.S. exporters for this transaction, most based in the Houston area, include Bechtel Corporation, J. Ray McDermott Inc., and Canyon Offshore Inc., among others.

India is a market with enormous prospects, and Ex-Im Bank is pleased to support this large energy-development transaction on behalf of American exporters. Our support helped to make their exports competitive in the face of significant international competition backed by foreign export-credit agencies, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President James H. Lambright.

RIL is India's largest private-sector company by revenue, net profit and total assets and currently operates the largest refinery in India and integrated petrochemical complexes in Maharashtra and Gujarat. RIL also has extensive retail operations in over 57 cities in 13 Indian states. The company recently expanded into offshore oil and gas exploration and production.

Ex-Im Bank has identified India as a key market for its export financing. In April 2008, Ex-Im Bank established the Indian Infrastructure Facility to support U.S. exports to Indian projects in sectors such as power and renewable-energy generation, oil and gas development, airport and seaport development, railway and urban transit, and health care. The facility now includes nine Indian financial institutions and has a financing capacity of $2.45 billion.

Ex-Im Bank is the official export-credit agency of the United States. The independent, self-sustaining federal agency, now in its 74th year, helps create and maintain U.S. jobs by financing the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loan guarantees, export-credit insurance and direct loans.

In fiscal year 2007, Ex-Im Bank authorized $12.6 billion in financing to support an estimated $16 billion of U.S. exports worldwide. The Bank authorized more than $1.4 billion last year to support U.S. exports to India, including a $500 million loan guarantee to Reliance Petroleum Ltd. for the Jamnagar refinery. For more information, visit www.exim.gov.