Financing Announcement
January 23 2007 - 2:02AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:9610P
Urals Energy Public Company Limited
23 January 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Urals Energy Public Company Limited
$130 Million Dulisminskoye Field Development Debt Financing
Urals Energy Public Company Limited announces today the completion of a new debt
finance facility to fund the development of the Dulisminskoye field in Irkutsk
Oblast, Eastern Siberia. Goldman Sachs, as Arranger, and Standard Bank plc, as
the funding bank, are providing a total of US$ 130 million of debt to a special
purpose subsidiary of Urals Energy. The debt facility is secured by OOO Dulisma
("Dulisma") as a project-style loan that is non-recourse, except in certain
limited circumstances, to Urals Energy. This debt financing is expected to fund
Urals Energy's commitment to develop the oil reserves at its Dulisminskoye
field.
The terms of the loan arranged by Goldman Sachs include an interest rate of 725
basis points over LIBOR of which 300 basis points are payable quarterly, with
the remainder accruing until the loan matures in four years or 2011 when all
principal and accrued interest is due in a single payment. The loan may be
prepaid at any time but during the first two years certain penalties for early
prepayment apply.
The credit risk of the debt facility will be sold to Goldman Sachs and Standard
Bank will act as the funding bank of record and also facility agent. The deal
is structured to fund in two tranches, $45 million and $85 million. The second
tranche is subject only to the approval of Urals Energy's senior bank syndicate
in accordance with the terms of a pre-negotiated inter-creditor agreement.
The use of $130 million gross financing proceeds include approximately $30
million to reimburse Urals Energy for planned development costs incurred at
Dulisma since its acquisition in June 2006, $20 million for the defeasance of
cash interest payments for the first two years of the facility, and the
remainder, $80 million, for future capital and operating costs of Dulisma.
This loan will provide Urals Energy with the debt capital necessary to develop
the Dulisminskoye field to its projected peak production level of 30,000 BOPD by
2011. Following certain favorable changes in the timing and route of
Transneft's ESPO pipeline, total development costs for Dulisminskoye have been
reduced, however, the project's near-term net cash requirement has increased as
a result of the acceleration of certain elements of the development plan. It is
expected that the debt financing is sufficient to meet this revised net cash
flow profile.
Also announced separately today are two key approvals received by Urals Energy
from the Russian Government for the successful development and operation of the
Dulisminskoye field. Urals Energy has received written confirmation from the
Irkutsk Oblast Tax Administration that the Dulisminskoye field qualifies for a
ten year, zero production tax rate for the period beginning 1 January 2007 and
ending 31 December 2016.. Production taxes for Urals Energy's other Russian oil
production operations averaged approximately $11.50 per barrel for the 11 month
period ending 30 November 2006. This confirmation by the Russian government
that no production taxes will be levied on oil produced at Dulisminskoye for the
next ten years results in gross savings of approximately $308 million and an
increase in the project PV 10% of approximately $191 million based on the 31
March 2006 report by Urals Energy's independent reserve engineers, DeGolyer &
MacNaughton.
On 28 December 2006, Urals Energy received the final approval by the Russian
Government's Central Committee for Field Development of Urals Energy's field
development plan for the Dulisminskoye field. This approval provides Urals
Energy with the full legal authority to proceed with the development of the
Dulisminskoye field.
The combined result of this innovative debt financing, certification of zero
production tax rate for the next 10 years, official field development plan
approval, and continued progress by Transneft in constructing the ESPO, now
provides Urals Energy with a clear path for the successful development of the
Dulisminskoye field.
William R. Thomas, CEO, commented:
"We believe this to be a ground-breaking debt financing for the Russian E&P
industry and are pleased that Goldman Sachs and Standard Bank have demonstrated
their confidence in both our assets and management team with this unique project
debt financing. Both the terms and speed of execution of this transaction were
attractive, providing Urals Energy and its shareholders with the best debt
facility available for financing the development of the Dulisminskoye field."
23 January 2006
Pelham PR
James Henderson 020 7743 6673
Gavin Davis 020 7743 6677
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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