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Overview

CPFHK provides loan for acquisition of 35% ownership stake in Syria Shell Petroleum Development from Shell

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$2,057,821,557
Commitment Year•2010Country of Activity•Syrian Arab RepublicDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•China (People's Republic of)Overseas Jurisdiction•Hong Kong (China)Sector•Industry, Mining, ConstructionFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
May 1, 2010
End (actual)
May 1, 2010

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

Visualizes the AidData-provided feature geometry for this project.

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This project supported the acquisition of a 35% ownership stake in Syria Shell Petroleum Development, which is headquartered in Damascus, Syria. More detailed locational information can be found at https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/35360609 or https://goo.gl/maps/BwLznVWjPy4w2dZj6.

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% Chinese ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned companies

  • CNPC Finance (HK) Limited

Receiving agencies

State-owned companies

  • China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)

Loan desecription

CPFHK provides loan for acquisition of 35% ownership stake in Syria Shell Petroleum Development from Shell

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

On February 22, 2010, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) concluded a share purchase agreement with Shell in which CNPC agreed to acquire a 35 percent ownership stake in Syria Shell Petroleum Development (SSPD), a unit of Royal Dutch Shell, for $1.6 billion. At the time, SSPD had interests in three production licenses -- Deir-Ez-Zor, Fourth Annex and Ash Sham -- that are operated by the Al Furat Petroleum Company (AFPC), in which Shell had a 31.25 percent ownership stake. CNPC Finance (HK) Limited (CPFHK) issue a loan to CNPC to facilitate the acquisition. Then, in May 2010, the acquisition was completed. In December 2011, in compliance with international sanctions on Syria, including European Council Decision 2011/782/CFSP, Shell suspended all exploration and production activities in Syria.

Staff comments

1. This project is also known as the Euphrates Project. The Chinese project title is 中东地区叙利亚幼发拉底项目 or 敘利亞幼發拉底項目. 2. CNPC Finance (HK) Limited is identified by official sources as the financier of the acquisition. AidData assumes for the time being that the face value of the acquisition (overseas investment) loan (境外投资项目案例) from CPFHK was worth approximately 75% of the the total cost of the acquisition ($1.2 billion or 75% of $1.6 billion). This issue warrants further investigation.