...March 19, 2024 HONG KONG (S&P Global Ratings) March 20, 2024--S&P Global Ratings today assigned its '##' long-term issue rating to the U.S. dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes that Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC; ##/Stable/--) plans to issue. The company plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including refinancing debt obligations. The rating on the notes is subject to our review of final documentation. We rate the senior unsecured notes the same as the long-term issuer credit rating on KNOC. This is because we do not foresee any material structural or contractual subordination risks in the company's capital structure. KNOC's capital structure consisted of about Korean won (KRW) 11.1 trillion of unsecured debt at the parent level and about KRW4.0 trillion of debt that its subsidiaries issued as of end-December 2023. KNOC has a priority debt ratio of about 26%, lower than our notching-down threshold of 50%. We equalize our ratings on KNOC with the sovereign credit...
