IFC aids BPZ to raise capital for Peru oil project

WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The World Bank's International Finance Corp said on Monday it will lend $15 million to oil and gas exploration company BPZ Resources BZP.A and help raise $200 million from commercial banks for its Peruvian operations amid tight global credit markets.

IFC, the World Bank's private sector lender, said the loans will support BPZ's drilling program in the offshore Corvina oil and gas field and the start-up of its Nueva Esperanza power plant, which will be fired with gas supplied from the Corvina field.

"With the help of IFC's financing, we are in the position to accelerate our investments in Peru," BPZ's President and Chief Executive Manolo Zuniga said.

"With IFC's presence, we are now in the process of adding commercial bank funding in times of significant turmoil in the international capital markets," Zuniga added. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton. Editing by Ben Tan)