IFC Loans $550m to Pan American Energy

The IFC, the private-sector arm of the World Bank has granted a $550m loan to the Argentina’s energy firm Pan American Energy. The loan comprises a $150m tranche due 2018, and a $400m tranche – raised by the IFC from a group of commercial banks – $158.2m of which is due in 2014, and $241.5m of which is due in 2015. The money will be used towards an $858m investment in the Cerro Dragon oil and gas field, in the southernmost provinces of Chubut and Santa Cruz. Pan American, a joint venture between BP plc and Bridas Corporation, is Argentina’s second-largest oil and gas producer, accounting for about 17% of the country’s output.