Bank joins 598-mile Permian Basin–Agua Dulce/Katy pipeline project
Expands energy PF from LNG export terminals to gas transport infrastructure
NH NongHyup Bank has extended $60 million in financing for a natural gas pipeline construction project in the United States, expanding its footprint in energy infrastructure investment. The move takes the bank's project financing beyond its traditional focus on LNG export terminals into the midstream sector, which handles gas transportation.
NH NongHyup Bank announced Thursday that it had provided a $60 million loan — equivalent to 81 billion won — to participate in a project building a natural gas pipeline connecting the Permian Basin in Texas to Agua Dulce and Katy.
The project involves constructing a 598-mile natural gas pipeline at a total cost of approximately $3.4 billion. A consortium of US energy companies is jointly developing it, with the goal of building infrastructure to transport natural gas produced in the Permian Basin to major demand centers.
Through the deal, NH NongHyup Bank has extended its US energy infrastructure portfolio into the midstream segment. The bank had previously built up its project financing experience primarily around LNG export terminals and other facilities for processing and exporting energy output; this transaction marks its first financing of a gas transmission network.
The bank worked with Japanese financial institution MUFG on the deal. The bank's headquarters IB division designated US infrastructure finance as a core business line and provided support throughout the transaction, while the New York branch's IB desk handled local operations from deal origination through to signing.
NH NongHyup Bank said it plans to increase participation in new projects in the US infrastructure finance market and strengthen its financial arrangement capabilities going forward.
"This transaction is an important turning point in diversifying NH NongHyup Bank's global energy infrastructure finance portfolio," a bank official said. "Building on our accumulated project experience and global network, we will continue to pursue sustained growth in project finance markets globally, including in the United States."
Meanwhile, NH NongHyup Bank is also expanding collaboration with overseas alternative investment managers in the digital infrastructure space. Last month, it co-hosted an AI data center forum with Blackstone's Korea unit, and this year it joined a US Iowa data center project financing as a senior lender, continuing to broaden its overseas infrastructure investment reach.
rim@heraldcorp.com
