Tullow Oil today confirmed the completion of its refinancing of $2.5billion of Reserves Based Lending (RBL) credit facilities.
The $2.5billion of credit facilities are split between a commercial bank facility of $2.4billion and an IFC facility of $100 million. The fully committed facilities are revolving with a three-year grace period and final maturity of November 2024.
The transaction, which was formally launched in early October following the resolution of the Ghana – Cote d’Ivoire border dispute, was materially over-subscribed and extends the maturity of the Group’s existing RBL credit facilities. Tullow has also decided to reduce the commitments of its Revolving Corporate Credit Facility to $600million from $800 million, ahead of the scheduled amortisation in January 2018.
Chief financial officer Les Wood said: “The refinancing of our RBL credit facility was a key objective for 2017 and we are very pleased to have completed this process in line with stated guidance and ahead of our year-end target.
“The success of this transaction clearly demonstrates the high quality of the Group’s assets, our ability to generate free cash flow and the strength of our long-standing banking relationships. Following this refinancing, we have no material near-term debt maturities and will enter 2018 in a strong financial position.”
Following the refinancing of the RBL credit facilities and the reduction of the Revolving Corporate Credit Facility, Tullow has total headroom including free cash of $0.9billion with no material near-term debt maturities.