Duqm Refinery & Petrochemical Co. hired Credit Agricole SA to advise on fundraising for its USD6bn project, according to two people with knowledge of the plan. Credit Agricole will help the Omani company raise more than USD2bn in loans, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Funding backed by export credit agencies and a sale of bonds may also be considered to support the project, the people said. The Duqm refinery project is 50 percent owned by state-controlled Oman Oil Co. SAOC, with the other 50 percent held by Kuwait Petroleum International, a unit of government-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. The project involves building a 230,000-barrel-a-day refinery in the Duqm Special Economic Zone on the Arabian Sea coast. Spokesmen for Oman Oil and Credit Agricole didn’t respond to requests for comment.
 
Oman is pushing ahead with projects to diversify its economy even as low oil prices hurt its finances. State-owned Electricity Holding Co. last month hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank Muscat SAOG to advise on raising USD2bn for projects, while Bank Muscat and Standard Chartered Plc are said to be helping Oman Oil raise about USD1.4 bin from two loans for its liquefied petroleum gas and methanol businesses.