Bengal Energy Announces Credit Facility Amendment and Principal Deferral
March 22 2018 - 8:30AM
Bengal Energy Ltd. (TSX:BNG) (“Bengal” or the
“Company”) announces that it has successfully negotiated an
amendment (the “Amendment”) to its secured credit facility (the
“Credit Facility”) with the Australian based Westpac Institutional
Bank (“Westpac”), which includes a deferment of principal payments
on the Credit Facility. The Credit Facility continues to have
an expiry date of December 31, 2019 and provides a borrowing base
of US$12.5 million, of which the full amount is currently drawn.
Under the Amendment, the June 30, 2018 principal
payment of US$2.5MM has been deferred and the December 30, 2018
principal payment has been reduced to US$1.5MM (from
US$2.5MM). The Amendment requires Bengal to make a principal
payment of US$5MM on June 30, 2019 and a principal payment of
US$6MM on December 31, 2019. In addition, there have been
minor revisions to the definitions of Debt Service Coverage Ratio
and Cash Available for Debt Service. A new cash sharing
arrangement has been included in the Amendment that requires Bengal
to prepay an amount that in aggregate equals 50% of free cash
received by the Company in the preceding six months. The cash
sharing calculation and payment will be done quarterly and will be
credited to any outstanding loan amount under the Credit
Facility. Between March 2018 and April 2019, any amounts
posted to the cash sharing arrangement can be withdrawn by Bengal
for any necessary corporate purposes so long as the Company is in
compliance with the terms of the Credit Facility, as amended.
After April 30, 2019, if the Credit Facility has not been cancelled
or repaid in full, Bengal must prepay such amounts as necessary to
ensure that 100% of the free cash over the previous six month
period ending on April 30, 2019 has been prepaid. These
payments will not be available for withdrawal under the Credit
Facility.
Concurrently with the signing of the Amendment,
Bengal will initiate a program to hedge approximately 15,000
barrels of crude oil from January 2019 to March 2019.
“This extension demonstrates the strong support
from our lenders at Westpac and delivers additional value to our
shareholders,” said Chayan Chakrabarty, Bengal’s President and CEO.
“The financial flexibility afforded by the extension provides
additional liquidity to evaluate near term development and
exploration opportunities.”
Copies of the Credit Facility, including the
Amendment, are available under the Company’s profile on
www.sedar.com.
About Bengal
Bengal Energy Ltd. is an international junior
oil and gas exploration and production company with assets in
Australia. The Company is committed to growing shareholder
value through international exploration, production and
acquisitions. Bengal’s common shares trade on the Toronto Stock
Exchange under the symbol “BNG”. Additional information is
available at www.bengalenergy.ca.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain
forward-looking statements or information (“forward-looking
statements”) as defined by applicable securities laws that involve
substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of
which are beyond Bengal’s control. These forward-looking statements
relate to future events or our future performance. All statements
other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking
statements. The use of any of the words “plan”, “expect”,
“prospective”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “should”,
“anticipate”, “estimate”, or other similar words or statements that
certain events “may” or “will” occur are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. The projections, estimates and
beliefs contained in such forward-looking statements are based on
management’s estimates, opinions, and assumptions at the time the
statements were made, including assumptions relating to: the
current commodity price environment; the impact of economic
conditions in North America, Australia and globally; industry
conditions; changes in laws and regulations including, without
limitation, the adoption of new environmental laws and regulations
and changes in how they are interpreted and enforced;
increased competition; the availability of qualified operating or
management personnel; fluctuations in commodity prices, foreign
exchange or interest rates; stock market volatility and
fluctuations in market valuations of companies with respect to
announced transactions and the final valuations thereof; results of
exploration and testing activities; and the ability to obtain
required approvals and extensions from regulatory authorities.
Bengal believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking
statements are reasonable but, no assurances can be given that any
of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will
transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits that
Bengal will derive from them. As such, undue reliance should not be
placed on forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements contained herein
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the effect
of the Amendments on the Company and the expected reductions to,
and payments required under, the Credit Facility; and the Company's
plans to initiate a hedging program. The forward-looking
statements contained herein are subject to numerous known and
unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Bengal’s actual
financial results, performance or achievement in future periods to
differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these
forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, risks
associated with: further amendments to, and extensions of, the
Credit Facility; Bengal’s development and exploration
opportunities; fluctuations in commodity prices, foreign exchange
or interest rates; the failure to obtain required regulatory
approvals or extensions; failure to satisfy the conditions under
farm-in and joint venture agreements; failure to secure required
equipment and personnel; changes in general global economic
conditions including, without limitations, the economic conditions
in North America and Australia; increased competition; the
availability of qualified operating or management personnel;
changes in laws and regulations including, without limitation, the
adoption of new environmental and tax laws and regulations and
changes in how they are interpreted and enforced; the results of
exploration and development drilling and related activities; the
ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external
sources; and stock market volatility. Readers are encouraged
to review the material risks discussed in Bengal’s Annual
Information Form under the heading “Risk Factors” and in Bengal’s
annual MD&A under the heading “Risk Factors”. The Company
cautions that the foregoing list of assumptions, risks and
uncertainties is not exhaustive. The forward-looking
statements contained in this news release speak only as of the date
hereof and Bengal does not assume any obligation to publicly update
or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as
may be require pursuant to applicable securities laws.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE
CONTACT:
Bengal Energy
Ltd.Chayan Chakrabarty, President & Chief
Executive OfficerMatthew Moorman, Chief Financial
OfficerPhone : (403)
205-2526Email:
investor.relations@bengalenergy.ca Website:
www.bengalenergy.ca
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