Dentons has advised long-standing client Vitol, the global energy and commodity trading group, on its participation in the recent US$534 million debt financing for Shoreline Natural Resources Limited (SNRL), the indigenous Nigerian oil producer which, together with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, owns OML 30, a large onshore block in the western Niger Delta.

As well as refinancing existing indebtedness, the new credit facility will enable SNRL to increase production from OML 30 at a time when the oil market's recovery appears to be stabilising.

In connection with this facility, Vitol will become entitled to lift SNRL's share of production from OML 30 and to manage the development of alternative export infrastructure, reducing OML 30's dependence on the Forcados Terminal.

The Dentons team was led by London-based Banking and Finance partners Tim Pipe and Celia Gardiner and Energy senior associate Christopher Thomson, with assistance from Banking and Finance counsel Richard Williams, associates Omosuyi Fred-Omojole, Tom Guilfoyle and Natalie Burns, and trainees Sanskriti Mohta and Katie Tait.