Ashurst has advised Lundin Petroleum AB (Lundin Petroleum) on its entry into of  a committed seven year senior secured revolving credit facility of up to US$5.0 billion, with an initial committed amount of US$4.3 billion.

This senior secured facility will provide the financial flexibility to fund Lundin Petroleum's interest in the Johan Sverdrup project in Norway. This facility replaces the current credit facility of US$4.0 billion which was due to reduce in availability starting in June 2016 and mature in 2019. The new amended facility matures at the end of 2022 with no reduction in committed facility size before the end of 2020, which is after the scheduled Johan Sverdrup first oil date at the end of 2019. The facility includes the option to bring in additional commitments from existing and new lenders through an "accordion option" of up to US$700 million.

This is believed to be the largest RBL ever arranged for an upstream oil and gas company in the European market.

The Ashurst team, which was led by structured oil and gas finance partner Huw Thomas, included in London, associates Nick Szmigin and Zeina Talhouni; in Paris, a team led by finance partner Stephanie Corbière and corporate partner Guy Benda; and in Sweden, a team led by partner Eric Halvarsson. Ashurst worked closely with Lundin General Counsel, Jeffrey Fountain and Vice President Corporate Finance, Christophe Nerguararian.

Huw Thomas commented:

"We are  pleased to have assisted Lundin Petroleum on this high profile financing with a group of 23 international banks. The ability to close a  financing of this magnitude during such a challenging time for the industry is a testament to the strength of Lundin Petroleum and its assets. "