Australian oil and gas company Santos has executed documentation to enter into a new US$750 million syndicated bank loan, to refinance existing debt facility established for the acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ northern Australian and Timor-Leste assets.
According to Santos, the new facility was about three times oversubscribed, "receiving strong support from a mix of existing and new relationship banks."
Proceeds from the new facility will be used to refinance the existing US$750 million debt facility established for the acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ northern Australian and Timor-Leste assets, which was completed in May 2020.
Santos acquired ConocoPhillips’ northern Australian business with operating interests in Darwin LNG, Bayu-Undan, Barossa, and Poseidon $1.265 billion, with a $200 million contingent payment included for the Barossa field, subject to FID.
Santos said Wednesday that the new five and a quarter-year facility would mature in January 2026, extending Santos’ weighted average term to maturity of its drawn debt facilities to almost five years.
Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said the new debt facility is consistent with the company’s strategy of securing competitively priced long-term funding.
“This is an excellent result for Santos, showing strong support from bank lenders and demonstrating our balance sheet is set up to support our growth strategy.”
“With this new facility in place, we now have no material debt maturities until 2024."
“We also have ample liquidity in place and our debt covenants have sufficient headroom at current oil prices for a number of years,” Gallagher said.