UAE's ADNOC eyes bond issue amid low interest rates

• The UAE, the third-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq, pumps about 3 million barrels of oil per day.
• Abu Dhabi National Oil Co is considering a possible bond issue to take advantage of low interest rates.

ABU DHABI: Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is considering a possible bond issue to take advantage of low interest rates, its chief financial officer said on Wednesday.

State-owned ADNOC, given an AA credit rating by Fitch in February, will have been encouraged by Saudi Aramco's first international debt issue in April, when it sold $12 billion of bonds after receiving more than $100 billion in orders..

"We will take a look. These are historically low interest (rates), so if you're not issuing, you're making a big judgment call," said CFO Mark Cutis when asked at a Bloomberg event whether ADNOC would look at a bond issue in the first quarter of 2020.

Asked whether the potential bond issue would be bigger than Aramco's, Cutis said "we are still in discussions."

The United Arab Emirates oil and gas giant, long viewed as one of the most conservative energy companies in the Gulf region, has embarked on a major transformation in the past couple of years in an effort to adapt more quickly to market changes.

The UAE, the third-largest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) behind Saudi Arabia and Iraq, pumps about 3 million barrels of oil per day, most of which is produced by ADNOC.