1. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC; President & CEO: Hiroshi Watanabe)^*1 signed on January 29 a loan agreement totaling up to 25 million US dollars with Norske AEDC AS, a corporation in Kingdom of Norway wholly owned by Arabian Oil Company, Ltd. The Loan was cofinanced with Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd, with Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) providing a guarantee for the portion of the loan provided by the private financial institutions.
    
2. This loan provides funds that enable Arabian Oil Company, Ltd. to acquire, through its subsidiary, a 10% interest in the Yme oil field and adjacent mining blocks located about 150km southwest of the Norwegian city of Stavanger, from Talisman Energy Norge AS, a corporation in Norway.
    
3. Arabian Oil Company Ltd., one of Japan's oil and gas development companies, has increasingly focused on the acquisition of interest in new oil fields in recent years, since the terms of interests are expiring for the existing oil fields the Company possesses in the Middle East and Asia. This project is therefore considered one of the Company's flagship missions. In the meantime, Norske AEDC AS has a 5% interest in the Gyda oil field currently operating in the Norwegian territory of the North Sea. The project is also expected to help expand the scope of Arabian Oil Company's business operations in this region.
    
4. In this project, the public sectors team up to assist a Japanese company in the development and acquisition of interest in resources. JBIC will keep providing financial support for facilitating the development and acquisition of interests in important natural resources by drawing on its various financial tools and risk-taking functions.

Note

1. *1 JBIC is the international wing of the Japan Finance Corporation (JFC; Governor: Shosaku Yasui).
2.