Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC) has hired HSBC to arrange a loan of around USD1bn, five banking sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Two of the sources said the loan was being requested by Petroleum Export Limited (PEL), a special purpose vehicle used by EGPC, Egypt’s national oil company, to raise several loans in the past. However, Petroleum Ministry spokesman, Hamdi Abdelaziz, dismissed the report and said, “there were no deals concluded through the current financial year and until now.” The two sources said the new loan would be a structured finance deal. In this case, the facility proceeds will partly be used to pre-pay EGPC cargo deliveries, the sources said. The pre-payment loan for EGPC, which has a five-year maturity, is now being syndicated to other banks, the sources added.