By Iain Packham
LONDON--U.K. North Sea-focused oil company Xcite Energy Ltd. (XEL.LN) said Friday it has signed a five year, $155 million loan agreement with a group of lending institutions, secured against oil reserves, which will provide funding for Phase 1B development of its Bentley heavy oil field.
"Having secured the facility in the current difficult banking and financial market conditions, the company has demonstrated a further substantial de-risking of the Bentley field and its proposed development plan," Chief Financial Officer Rupert Cole said.
The loan facility is subject to certain conditions and the achievement of targets in the Bentley Phase 1A development work program, including the drilling of a well and a flow test.
The facility has been arranged with Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS.LN), Societe Generale SA (SCGLY), General Electric Co. (GE), Nedbank Group Ltd. (NDBKY) and BP PLC (BP.LN) subsidiary Britannic Strategies Ltd.
Shares closed Thursday at 79.0 pence.
Write to Iain Packham at iain.packham@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 22, 2012 02:57 ET (06:57 GMT)
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