Best Trade Bank in Oil and Energy: BNP Paribas

Runner-up: Trade Bank of Iraq
Commended: Deutsche/Fortis
2007 Winner: BNP Paribas

The major French commercial banks have always been strong in emerging markets, so it is little surprise to see BNP Paribas topping the poll as the Best Trade Bank in Oil and Energy.

At BNP Paribas, oil and energy comes under the umbrella of 22-year BNP veteran Lincoln Payton, who is Global Head of Energy & Commodities, following a restructuring at the beginning of July. This sectoral organisation for BNP’s Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) puts all CIB resources for commodities and energy under one roof, from hedges in energy linked to financing of acquisitions or new projects through to the development of new products for investors.

BNP Paribas has also been involved with trading in carbon credits from the word go. It claims a portfolio in excess of 30 million carbon credits from across the world – Latin America, CIS, China and India. “Last year we entered into an agreement with PEMEX covering two projects to reduce emissions of more than 130,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year at PEMEX’s Tua and Cadereyta refineries,” says Payton.

The bank has been involved in a number of key deals over the past year, including the Marafiq $3.4bn Independent Water and Power Production (IWPP) in Saudi Arabia, the largest IWPP in the world, and Addax Petroleum’s $1.6bn acquisition of Pan-Ocean Energy in Nigeria. In Russia, BNP Paribas led the KazMunaiGaz $1bn bridge loan facility, enabling the company to finance its share of the cash calls related to the development of the Kashagan oil field, the largest discovery of the past 30 years.

BNP Paribas also advised Tullow when it sold an 11% stake in Congo’s Mboundi field to Korea National Oil Company; EnCana Corporation when it sold its oil-exploration assets in Chad to China National Petroleum Corporation; and, Sinochem in its $465m acquisition of assets in the East Shabwa Development Area in Yemen.