Hogan Lovells has advised new clients U.S. energy fund EIG and Lagos-based development finance lender Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as the principal senior lenders on an up to US$425 million loan facility for New Age (African Global Energy) Limited, a Jersey-incorporated oil and gas group focused on the development of upstream oil & gas fields in Africa.

The facility will be used to finance New Age's offshore oil and gas fields in Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon and Nigeria as well as a further oil field in Kurdistan (an autonomous province of Iraq).

The Hogan Lovells Energy & Natural Resources sector group advising was led by London infrastructure, energy, resources and projects partner Richard Tyler and Counsel Nick Tidnam, with Counsel Liam Naidoo on the compliance side; supported by a cross-border team from Paris and Singapore.

Commenting on the financing Richard Tyler said:

"This presented both a challenge and opportunity in the current market – new upstream oil and gas financings are relatively rare at the present moment due to the low oil price, and involve a variety of country-specific issues; however they present attractive commercial opportunities for specialist funds and lenders. With our global reach and local knowledge we are well placed to advise on such transactions and look forward to the opportunity to build on our relationship with these two new clients EIG and AFC going forward."

Hogan Lovells has recently advised on several oil and gas matters, including IMR on its divestment of KoZhaN JSC (an oil and gas company incorporated in Kazakhstan which owns three oil and gas fields in the Atyrau Region of Kazakhstan) to Geo-Jade Petroleum of China, effected by public trades on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange; and  Claims Validation Services Limited (CVSL) and Oil & Gas UK (OGUK), acting on behalf of 12 major oil and gas companies, to implement an industry-backed solution required by regulatory changes to the UK Gas Day introduced by the new EU Gas Network Codes.