Premier Oil today revealed details of revised terms for its long-awaited refinancing.
The London-listed firm, whose debts sat at $2.8billion on October 31, has been in talks with lenders over its finances for months.
A week ago it was forced to issue a statement denying that lenders had bailed out after its share price slid more than 10%.
Today, Premier said that creditors provided a revised term sheet late last week which, if the terms are firmed up, would preserve the firm’s existing facilities and provide headroom until after the North Sea Catcher field comes on-stream next year.
The agreement would also give lenders “enhanced economics” and a “comprehensive security package”.
New controls over the sanctioning of development projects would also be handed to lenders.
Premier said the next step was to “lock up” to the terms of a transaction by year-end, following which there would be a process to implement the refinancing during the first quarter of 2017.
The company also said Catcher was on schedule for first oil in 2017 with total capex now estimated at $1.7billion, 24% lower than at sanction.
In an update on the sale of its Pakistan operations, Premier said new parties had come to the table after the exclusivity period with the preferred bidder ended.
Premier chief executive Tony Durrant said: “Against a challenging commodity price backdrop, Premier continues to deliver operationally. The company is benefitting from a step change in production with a significantly lower cost base while excellent progress has been made on the Catcher project, which remains on track for first oil next year.
“Refinancing of the group’s debt has taken longer than anticipated but will, once completed, put Premier in good stead to reinvest in the business while, at the same, time paying down debt.
“In the medium term, Premier sees increasing value in the Tolmount area, the Sea Lion projects and its exploration acreage in Mexico.”
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