Industrial and Commercial Bank of China contributes USD 215 million to USD 1.79 billion syndicated loan for the Angola LNG project

Project narrative

On April 11, 2016, Bank of China contributed USD 215 million to a $1.79 billion syndicated loan for refinancing the Angola LNG project. BNP Paribas, ICBC, ING Group, MUFG Bank, Société Générale, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and UniCredit also contributed to the syndicated loan. The loan carried a maturity of 5 years and an unknown interest rate. The loan is secured by (presumably LNG) export receivables placed in an offshore account, with a pledge in favor of the lenders. Some of the original sponsors provided guarantees on the facility equal to their shareholding percentage of Angola LNG Limited. The purpose of this loan was to refinance equity contributions from the original sponsors, general corporate purposes, and support rehabilitation of the plant. The project was originally developed by Angola LNG Limited--a special purpose vehicle owned by Chevron (36.4%), Sonangol (22.8%), TotalEnergies (13.6%), BP (13.6%) and ENI (13.6%)--to gather and export liquid natural gas. The project was shut-down between 2014 and 2016 due to technical failures and other undisclosed issues.