IPIC, or International Petroleum Investment Corporation, selected Goldman Sachs to coordinate the transaction, a document sent by arranging banks and seen by Reuters, said.

Roadshows will cover several European cities beginning in London on Feb 28.

"We're hearing this one will be a very big size - and issued in two to three tranches," said a fixed income trader.

Arranging banks are Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank and Unicredit.

IPIC, which has stakes in Daimler and Virgin Galactic through its majority-owned Aabar Investments, last tapped global bond markets in November with an oversubscribed $2.5 billion deal.

The company, which has a mandate to invest in the oil sector outside the emirate, increased Abu Dhabi's refining exposure after taking over Spain's Cepsa.

Asked whether IPIC was considering bonds to fund that acquisition, one Gulf-based banker said that was almost certain.

"Hence they are doing euros and sterling," he said.

The only bank IPIC has retained from its November bond dollar-transaction is Goldman Sachs, and European banks dominate the latest mandate, including Spain's Banco Santander, indicating the company wants to diversify into the euro and sterling markets.

A potential issue will test investor appetite for debt from the region amid ongoing violent protests across the Middle East which have already toppled governments in Egypt and Tunisia and raised the specter of sustained political instability.

IPIC's roadshows are scheduled to take place in the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands and conclude in London on March 8.