Singapore emerges as venue for oil and gas financing

SINGAPORE, Mar 22 (Reuters) When Aban Offshore , India's biggest offshore oil services firm, wanted to raise cash, it sold a US0 million convertible bond issue in Singapore.

Bankers say the deal shows that Singapore is emerging as a capital-raising venue for Asian oil services firms.

Aban's Singapore unit is expected to eventually list its shares in the city-state, while several other energy-related firms, such as Malaysia's Scomi Group Bhd and two Chinese shipyards, are lining up to raise money in Singapore.

The trend augurs well for the Singapore Exchange (SGX) which is on the look-out for a host of new listings to lift its fee income, boost trading activity and raise Singapore's profile as a regional financial centre.

Singapore is home to the world's two biggest oil rig builders -- Keppel Corp. and Sembcorp Marine . It is also the world's biggest bunkering port, and is Asia's top physical oil trading centre and a major oil refining hub.

A surge in oil prices has spurred new investment in the energy sector and related services, prompting many of these firms to tap the capital markets.

''There is a natural draw for Singapore if you are in marine transportation or in the oil and gas support sector,'' said Patrick Lee, UBS's head of investment banking for Singapore and Malaysia.

HOTTER COMPETITION Three energy-services firms -- Chemoil Energy Ltd.

, Swiber Holdings , and China Energy , all from outside Singapore -- listed on the SGX last year, raising a total of 1 million, according to data compiler Dealogic.

Of these, Swiber is Singapore's third-best performing IPO over the last year, as its shares have risen more than threefold from the IPO price since the listing in November. For details click on .

These energy-related IPOs represent just a fraction of the record .7 billion in equity financing raised in Singapore last year, of which about a quarter came from mainland Chinese firms, but bankers said several more energy-related firms are sounding out the Singapore market.

''Our listing strategy leverages on Singapore's strengths.

Our approach is to build sectoral expertise and create a niche for ourselves in industries where we are strong,'' said Lawrence Wong, head of listings at SGX.

Singapore's bid for energy plays could intensify competition among the region's exchanges -- particularly between Hong Kong, which tend to attract the big Chinese listings, and Malaysia and Indonesia, which are Southeast Asia's two biggest oil producers.

''I would expect each of these exchanges to fight hard to keep their own companies and attract foreign companies,'' said Lee of UBS, which is advising China's Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Ltd. on its 0 million IPO in Singapore.

''It will be more up to the issuers to choose which listing venue they feel best suits their objectives.'' The banks which specialise in energy-related work all have a strong presence in Asia.

Merrill Lynch , Credit Suisse , and Morgan Stanley are ranked the top three banks in terms of the number of IPO deals they have advised in the oil and gas sector since 1980 in Asia excluding Japan, according Dealogic.

DEALS IN THE PIPELINE Malaysia's oil services firm Scomi Group, which has a stock market value of 0 million, said last year that it wants to list its specialist drilling unit, KMC Oiltools, in Singapore.

The group is partly owned by Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's son Kamaluddin.

Singapore-based Global Energy Trading Pte Ltd, a marine fuel supplier, is considering a listing here, a company executive told Reuters this month.

Bankers said another Chinese yard Jiangsu Eastern Shipyard is also exploring a Singapore listing and may raise million in its IPO over the next few weeks, while India's Mercator Lines set up an offshore subsidiary in Singapore last year and is expected to raise debt or equity in the city-state.

''The pipeline looks strong and we definitely would see more interest than in the previous year,'' said Amos Tan, an investment banker at the city-state's biggest lender DBS Bank .

REUTERS CS DB1339