DP World has negotiated an MoU on Churchill that covers port operations + a possible corridor to inland ports

DP World is set to sign on to Canada’s plan to turn its remote Arctic Port of Churchill into an export gateway to Europe and the Middle East, Bloomberg reports, citing two people it says are familiar with the matter. The port operator negotiated an MoU with two Canadian entities, including Arctic Gateway Group, which owns and operates the Hudson Bay port and its railway. The agreement covers port operations and a possible corridor linking Churchill to DP World’s global network and to inland port facilities run by CentrePort Canada. No investment figure or terms have been disclosed.

A prospectus from Canada’s government puts a full buildout of Churchill at USD 57 bn. Shared at the Canada Investment Summit in September, it lists “preliminary investment requests” of USD 3.9 bn for an LNG export corridor, rail upgrades, port modernization, and all-weather road access. Churchill could eventually serve Canadian LNG, grain, potash, and critical minerals bound for Europe and the Middle East, Bloomberg notes.

Ice limits the shipping season: Hudson Bay is frozen for most of the year, though Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson has said icebreakers could extend it, and Canada signed for new ones in August, the business news service reports. Arctic Gateway is studying year-round shipping with Fednav, and Churchill loaded 30k tons of durum wheat for Europe in late August, its first grain export since 2020.

REMEMBER- Ottawa aims to double non-US exports within a decade, and the UAE committed about USD 50 bn to Canada last year. For DP World, Churchill would provide a northern gateway to complement its existing Canadian footprint, which includes the Prince Rupert container port and Vancouver facilities it already operates and a 40-year concession it secured last month to run the planned Contrecoeur terminal near Montreal. Quebec’s CDPQ owns 45% of DP World Canada.

Mostly a rollover

UAE-backed Pearl Petroleum wants USD 400-500 mn from bond investors, and USD 350 mn of it is earmarked for refinancing existing debt. The rest goes to a debt service reserve account and capital spending at the Khor Mor and Chemchemal gas fields in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. The five-company consortium, run by Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum as joint operators with 35% each, is marketing a five-year senior secured bond, Zawya reports.

The new bond ranks alongside Pearl’s existing secured debt, including facilities from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Bank of Sharjah, and Commercial Bank of Iraq. Bondholders also get a reserve account holding cash to cover payments if revenue falls short. DNB Carnegie and Pareto Securities are joint lead managers.

IN CONTEXT- Pearl’s current USD 350 mn bond, issued in late 2024 at a 13% coupon, helped fund the USD 1.1 bn expansion of Khor Mor. Pearl says that extra capacity is what lets it send 100 mmscf/d of gas to the federal Electricity Ministry’s power station in Kirkuk, which it began doing in August under a one-year agreement.