Global menu

Our global pages

Close
Print Friendly and PDF

Reserve Based Lending

Our team of experienced finance, oil and gas, corporate, construction, real estate and tax lawyers can advise you on financing most types of energy assets, including reserve based lending (RBL), as well as working-out and restructuring RBL loans. We are involved in the structuring, drafting and negotiation of high profile transactions, ranging from upstream exploration and production (E&P), to midstream refineries, pipelines and storage infrastructure, through to portfolios of downstream retail assets.

Experienced reserve based lending lawyers

We bring our deep sector knowledge to bear together with a highly commercial approach, enabling you to achieve your commercial and strategic goals. We understand the importance of balancing between lender protections and borrowers' needs for flexibility, working collaboratively with all stakeholders to produce win-win outcomes.

Our lawyers have advised on many RBL facilities that were the ‘first-in-jurisdiction’, so as well as understanding the nuances of the US and European approaches to RBLs, we have extensive experience of emerging markets, where the inherent nature of the reserves and the jurisdiction can require the development and implementation of innovative structures.

Members of our team have a deep understanding of the financial modeling techniques used in RBL financings and can assist you in optimizing covenant packages (e.g. capex add-back), to dovetail with modeling outputs.

An experienced Reserve Based Lending legal team

We have advised on several energy transactions where RBL structures and techniques were used to monetize actual reserves in combination with inventory assets, particularly in the case of integrated oil and gas groups with both refinery/inventory and RBL assets.

Since the Q2 2014 downturn in oil prices, we have advised on a number of restructurings and refinancings of RBLs. Whether acting for borrowers, funders or purchasers of RBLs, our strategic combination of global firms enables us to advise on multi-jurisdictional cross-border restructurings.

Our outlook is as follows:

  • with global production and pricing outlook stabilizing and becoming more certain, at current pricing levels there are a number of E&P assets that appear now to justify further capex
  • funders remain highly selective as to which RBLs they will participate in, with scale and diversity seen as key
  • the potential resetting of strategic relationships with Russia will open new opportunities

Contact our Reserve Based Lending team

If you would like any further information or need advice on reserve based lending, please contact our legal team.

Key contacts

Alex Doughty, Consultant

Choose a country

Select a country to see local services

Print Friendly and PDF

© Eversheds Sutherland 2023. All rights reserved. Eversheds Sutherland is a global provider of legal and other services operating through various separate and distinct legal entities.

Eversheds Sutherland is the name and brand under which the members of Eversheds Sutherland Limited (Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP and Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP) and their respective controlled, managed and affiliated firms and the members of Eversheds Sutherland (Europe) Limited (each an "Eversheds Sutherland Entity" and together the "Eversheds Sutherland Entities") provide legal or other services to clients around the world. Eversheds Sutherland Entities are constituted and regulated in accordance with relevant local regulatory and legal requirements and operate in accordance with their locally registered names. The use of the name Eversheds Sutherland, is for description purposes only and does not imply that the Eversheds Sutherland Entities are in a partnership or are part of a global LLP. The responsibility for the provision of services to the client is defined in the terms of engagement between the instructed firm and the client.