GTBank, Shell grant $270m oil-backed loan to Nigeria’s Amni

The terms of the loan would give Shell Western Supply and Trade sole access to the 16,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil the company pumps in two fields off Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region.

Production at offshore fields, including Amni’s Ima and Okoro/Setu, is difficult to maintain, but Amni said the loan would allow them to further develop the fields. The company also has an offshore concession in Ghana.

“We are excited to work with GTBank and Shell as commercial and financial partners to enable the realisation of Amni’s ambitious plans for growth,” Amni’s Chief Executive Tunde Afolabi said in the statement.

According to Reuters Shell and GTBabnk did not provide additional comment on the deal.

Bigger oil companies and trading houses often extend financing to smaller oil and gas producers in deals that allow the financier preferential access to physical cargoes and give the recipient companies the cash they can use to develop and maintain their assets.

Earlier this year, Nigeria’s Shoreline agreed a similar type of deal worth $530 million with major oil trader Vitol, backed by several banks. The Nigerian government is also turning to private companies in an effort to finance everything from refinery upgrades to oil pipeline reconstruction.