Pearl Petroleum Seeks Up to $500 Million Senior Secured Bond for Refinancing and Kurdistan Growth

UAE-backed Pearl Petroleum is seeking to raise $400 million to $500 million through a new five-year senior secured bond, Zawya reported. Investor meetings have begun, and the paper is set to be listed on Euronext ABM.

Proceeds will refinance $350 million of existing senior secured bonds, establish a debt service reserve account, and fund capital expenditure at the Khor Mor and Chemchemal gas fields in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The new offering will rank equally with Pearl’s existing secured debt, including facilities from the US Development Finance Corporation, Bank of Sharjah, and Commercial Bank of Iraq.

DNB Carnegie and Pareto Securities are acting as joint lead managers on the offering. Pareto Securities handled a cross-continental roadshow in London, Zurich, New York, and Boston in early October, Octus reported.

The bonds being refinanced are Pearl’s $350 million 13% senior secured bonds due in 2028, issued in November 2024 and listed on the Nordic ABM. The bonds carry a 13% coupon paid semi-annually, according to the admission document.

Investors expect the refinancing to price below the 13% coupon on the existing bonds. One buy-side source told Octus that price talk of 8% would be too aggressive, pencilling in a coupon above 9%.

Pearl Petroleum is a consortium led by Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum, which hold 35% each, alongside OMV, MOL, and RWE with 10% each. It operates the Khor Mor gas field, the largest non-associated gas field in Iraq, and is developing the Chemchemal field.

Khor Mor supplies gas for power generation across the Kurdistan Region, and its KM250 expansion lifted total processing capacity to 750 million standard cubic feet per day. The field began 2026 at record output above 700 million standard cubic feet per day, Dana Gas said in its first-half results.

At Chemchemal, the partners are spending $160 million on appraisal and early development, including three wells and an extended well test facility. Long-term sales agreements signed in January 2026 will supply up to 142 million standard cubic feet per day to cement and steel buyers in the region from the second half of 2027.

The pricing will be the next signal of investor appetite for Kurdistan gas. A successful deal would lock in longer-term funding for Pearl’s expansion programme while retiring the higher-coupon 2028 bonds.