HSBC and Standard Chartered issued a $500m letter of credit (LOC) to Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to guarantee payments for gas extracted in 2018 from the offshore Sankofa field, Reuters Reported.
The banks said that the facility will guarantee GNPC’s payment obligations to energy companies Vitol and Eni related to the sale of gas to be extracted from the Sankofa field, off the coast of Ghana, and piped onshore for both power generation and industrial and domestic consumption, according to CPI Financial.
HSBC France acted as agent on the deal and co-issued $250m with Standard Chartered. The deal’s tenor is up to 17 years, a two year commitment period prior to production, followed by 15 years of effectiveness.
Moreover, in September, the World Bank also signed a $500m deal with GNPC in the form of a partial risk guarantee for use if the country defaults on payments for Sankofa gas.
Italian Eni holds a 44.4% stake in Sankofa, the Nedetherland’s upstream trader Vitol holds 35.6%, while GNPC holds a combined carried and participating interest of 20%. The gas piped onshore from Sankofa field will be mainly used for local consumption and possibly re-exported to adjacent countries.
