Milbank Advises Lenders on First-of-a-Kind Oil and Gas Financing in Africa

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP advised International Finance Corporation (IFC), UK Export Finance (UKEF) and a commercial bank group led by HSBC, ING, Société Générale and Standard Chartered Bank as the lenders on the financing of Vitol’s participation in the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) oil and gas field project involving the development of the Sankofa-Gye Nyame fields in Ghana. Gas from the project is expected to help generate 1,100 MW of additional electricity, providing enough gas to power Ghana’s thermal power operation for more than 15 years.

The US$7.9bn scheme represents the largest-ever foreign direct investment into Ghana. The World Bank put in place US$500m of backstop guarantees, bringing in the International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and MIGA for its largest single project investment.

This is the first upstream oil and gas financing in Ghana of this kind, and is UKEF’s largest direct loan to date.

The cross-practice Milbank team was led by London partner John Dewar with special counsel Matthew Mortimer, senior associates Oliver Irwin and Chris Taufatofua and associates Felicia Hanson Ofori-Quaah, Vicky Cox, Jenna Darler, Ben Pridgeon, Robert Thompson and Jonathan Roberts.

The financing has already won significant recognition in industry circles having just been named as “African Oil and Gas Deal of the Year” by Project Finance International magazine.

Mr. Dewar commented: “We are delighted to have advised this prestigious group of lenders on this groundbreaking project. Our role on this deal is a testament to our team’s ability to work on cutting edge and 'first-of-a-kind' financings in Africa and globally.”