Dubai: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) announced Monday that it has arranged a multipurpose financing deal of Dh790 million for Kharafi National, a Kuwait-based construction group in the Middle East and Africa.

Under the agreement, DIB will cover the banking requirements for Kharafi National's sub-contract with JGC-Tecnimont joint venture to construct the Habshan 5 process plant, an integrated gas development project for Gasco, in Abu Dhabi. The project, with a value of $728 million (Dh2.7 billion) aims to increase Abu Dhabi's offshore gas production capacity by one billion cubic feet per day.

"DIB's arrangement of this landmark deal further emphasises its leadership position in supporting major strategic projects within the oil and gas industry in a Sharia-compliant manner. We are confident of Kharafi National's capabilities to execute this significant project based on our satisfactory experience with them on similar projects in the past," said Ayman Adel Kamal, Chief of Real Estate and Contracting Finance at DIB in a press release yesterday

Kharafi National is a leading electromechanical contractor in the Gulf and Middle East, and has a strong track record of executing large projects in the UAE. The group is one of the biggest Kuwaiti conglomerates with diversified activities in water, wastewater treatment and reclamation, district cooling, solid waste management and enhanced oil recovery. It is also a leading contractor and facilities management service provider to the petroleum, chemicals, power, water and commercial sectors in the Middle East and Africa.