Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corp, has launched a $1-billion loan into syndication, said bankers.

The deal is being led by a consortium of international and local banks comprising Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi-UFJ, HSBC, JP Morgan, National Bank of Kuwait and Royal Bank of Scotland, the bankers said.

The five-year amortising term loan pays an interest margin of 130 basis points (bps) over Libor, one of the bankers said.

Kufpec was last in the market in June 2013 when it sealed a five-year $750 million deal paying a margin of 140 bps over Libor. That deal was led by Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, HSBC, JP Morgan, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, National Bank of Kuwait and RBS.

It was increased, using an accordion feature, to $1 billion in January this year.

Kufpec could not be immediately contacted for comment.-Reuters