22 Dec 2017 07:00
22 December 2017
Eland Oil & Gas PLC
("Eland" or the "Company")
Syndication of RBL
Eland Oil & Gas PLC (AIM: ELA), an oil & gas production and development company operating in West Africa with an initial focus on Nigeria, is pleased to announce the syndication of its Reserve Based Lending ("RBL") facility and a significant increase in its drawable capacity.
The Company's current existing facility of $35 million with Standard Chartered Bank, has now been syndicated to include The Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd and Mercuria Energy Trading S.A., on a purely debt financing basis, with all three institutions holding an equal position. The facility has a borrowing base amount of $40 million, which is in excess of the existing facility amount of $35 million, and is based on only Opuama-1, -3 and -7 production and cash flows. The security of the revised facility remains unchanged.
Of the available facility only $15m is currently drawn. The extra headroom will be conservatively used, along with the regular cash inflows from Opuama production, to support the funding of the remaining Opuama infill wells, growing Opuama's production to over 30,000bopd in H1 2018, as well as supporting the development of other Company assets.
The facility originally had a maturity of four and a half years from 31 December 2014 and is repayable by end-June 2019. The syndicated facility has been amended and restated with the same maturity, principal repayments commencing in H2 2018, interest on a quarterly basis at a rate of USD LIBOR plus a margin of 9% (an increase of 1.25% on the previous pre-syndication margin of 7.75%) and a single borrowing base re-determination in mid-2018.
The Company has current cash position of $17.4 million. Furthermore, a total of 242,500 barrels of crude was lifted from Forcados terminal in November with funds of approximately $13.7 million to be received this month leading to a significant improvement in the Company's net current liability position by year end.
Ronald Bain, CFO of Eland, commented:
"The significant headroom on what is a conservative 18-month facility, based only on three currently producing wells, shows the quality of the OML 40 asset and its expected future cash flows. The Company plans to refinance this loan in 2018 into a longer-term facility based on Opuama's full production potential and future OML 40 development.
"The Company's current cash position combined with cash inflows and the newly syndicated facility means we have a strong financial position from which to execute our near-term work programme."
Ends
For further information:
Eland Oil & Gas PLC (+44 (0)1224 737300)
LEI: 213800QDGQKG3JKKRR86
www.elandoilandgas.com
George Maxwell, CEO
Ronald Bain, CFO
Finlay Thomson, IR
Canaccord Genuity Limited (+44 (0)20 7523 8000)
Henry Fitzgerald O'Connor / James Asensio
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (+44 (0)20 7886 2500)
Adam James / Atholl Tweedie
Tom Salvesen
Camarco (+44 (0) 203 757 4980)
Billy Clegg / Georgia Edmonds / Tom Huddart
Notes to editors:
Eland Oil & Gas is an AIM-listed independent oil and gas company focused on production and development in West Africa, particularly the highly prolific Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
Through its joint venture company Elcrest, Eland's core asset is OML 40 which is located in the Northwest Niger Delta approximately 75km northwest of Warri and has an area of 498km². In addition, the Company has a 40% interest in the Ubima Field, onshore Niger Delta, in the northern part of Rivers State.
The OML 40 licence holds gross 2P reserves of 83.2 mmbbls, gross 2C contingent resources of 41.2 mmbbls and a best estimate of 254.5 mmbbls of gross unrisked prospective resources. The Ubima field holds gross 2P reserves of 2.4 mmbbls of oil and gross 2C resource estimates of 31.1 mmbbl.
Net production figures relate to Elcrest Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd ("Elcrest"), Eland's joint venture company. Production rates, are as measured at the Opuama PD meter, are subject to reconciliation and will differ from sales volumes.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.