US, European banks interested in financing loans for oil company Petroperu

* Five major US and European banks show strong interest in $2 billion Petroperu loans * Petroperu lost investment-grade rating in 2022, faces $7.9 billion in debt * Funds to secure refinery operations, with first $500 million tranche expected mid-June By Marco Aquino LIMA, May 13 (Reuters) - Five investment banks from the United States and Europe are "very interested" in financing the $2 billion in loans that Peruvian state-run oil company Petroperu requires to keep operating, the head of the government's investment promotion agency said on Wednesday. Luis Del Carpio, executive president of Proinversion, the government agency in charge of managing and supervising the loans, told Reuters Petroperu is expected to receive a first tranche of $500 million in mid-June. Petroperu, burdened with massive debt and undergoing a fragmented restructuring, warned last month it needed the funds to avoid halting fuel output amid financial difficulties and high oil prices driven by the Iran war. "There is interest from at least five major global investment banks, which have expressed their firm interest in financing Petroperu," Del Carpio said. "Some are from the United States, also from Europe. They are names we are more familiar with when we talk about investment banking," he added, without identifying them for confidentiality reasons. OIL COMPANY LOST RATING IN 2022 For the new financing, the government said on Monday that the Ministry of Energy and Mines will assume "contingent liabilities" with national or international entities in a "regulated operation" for Petroperu's loans. The company lost its investment-grade rating in 2022, amid debts to bondholders and private banks for the modernization of its Talara refinery, which cost more than $6 billion, higher than anticipated. "In the first half of June, the first tranche of this financing will be authorized," Del Carpio said. "For this $500 million tranche, one or two banks are likely to participate, but for the larger tranche, to complete the $2 billion, we believe more investment banks will participate." The entire financing for Petroperu would be completed by late July or early August, he added. PETROPERU'S CRISIS Del Carpio said the funds will be used to acquire crude oil and supplies for the company's three refineries and thus guarantee the oil company's operation. In early May, Petroperu, appointed its fourth board chairman this year, after reporting losses of $774 million in 2025. The company has debts of around $7.9 billion, of which almost half are short-term obligations. Del Carpio said the injection of "working capital" will allow the company to emerge from the crisis and begin paying the new debt starting in the seventh year after receiving the loan. He said he would seek to meet with members of Peru's next government after the country's presidential runoff vote on June 7 to respond to any concerns about the company. The government approved a decree at the end of 2025 for the equity restructuring of Petroperu, which has received about $5.3 billion directly or indirectly from the state in the last three years to support its operations. In addition to its refineries, Petroperu operates or has concessions on six crude oil lots with limited production. It also has a pipeline - currently inactive with no pumping contracts - and a fuel distribution and marketing chain. (Reporting by Marco Aquino, Editing by Daina Beth Solomon, Iñigo Alexander, Rod Nickel)