On March 29th, 2006, Commercebank N.A. granted a financing facility to Refinería La Pampilla S.A., for US $ 26’000,000.

Commercebank N.A. is a US nationally chartered financial institution founded in 1979, ranked among the largest privately held banks in South Florida. The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Commercebank Holding Corp., which in turn is owned by Mercantil Servicios Financieros, the largest international financial institution in Venezuela, with more than 80 years of experience in banking, and offices in the Americas and Europe. Today, after more than 25 years of sustained growth, Commercebank N.A. has assets in excess of $4 billion.

In the last years Commercebank N.A. has been increasing its financing operations in several countries in Latin America, including Peru. Commercebank N.A. has granted financings to different Peruvian companies during 2006 and 2007, among them Refinería La Pampilla S.A.

Refinería La Pampilla S.A. is the only private refinery in the country. Its majority shareholder, Repsol YPF Peru, also is the operator of the refinery. The core business of Refinería La Pampilla S.A. comprises the refining, storage, transportation and distribution of petroleum and its by-products. Its main competitor is Petroperú, a government-owned corporation that operates some refineries as Talara and Conchán, among others. Repsol YPF operates the major refineries of petroleum in Spain and Argentina, and has a significant presence in Peru and Brazil. It operates nine refineries with a refining capacity of more than 1,2 million barrels per day.  

The funds will be used by Refinería la Pampilla S.A. to finance the acquisition of crude oil, which is need as raw material in the production of gasoline and its derivatives. 

Counsel to Commercebank N.A.

• Rebaza, Alcázar & De Las Casas Abogados Financieros, through his partner Rafael Alcázar and associate Laisha Mubarak.