Australian oil and gas firm Beach Energy has secured financing of A$530mn from a syndicate of banks.

ANZ and Commonwealth Bank of Australia acted as mandated lead arrangers (MLAs) and bookrunners, with HSBC and National Australia Bank acting as MLAs. The five-tranche facility will replace existing debt and letters of credit and will finance capital expenditure and working capital needs.

The oil and gas exploration and production firm says that the pricing has been an improvement on previous facilities but, when contacted by GTR, declined to comment further on the terms of the lending, or on the market conditions.

However, in a market that has been extremely difficult, it is notable that an explorer and producer has secured such a large chunk of finance. Banks have been trimming their commodity books. Explorers, in particular, have been struggling across Asia Pacific to get any kind of financing.

“The new facility is another example of Beach executing its recently announced four‐pillar strategy. Not only does the facility maintain our financial strength, it provides additional headroom to pursue our growth objectives in a low oil price environment. We appreciate the ongoing support of our banking syndicate,” Kathryn Presser, CFO, said in a statement.

The tranches are comprised of a three-year revolving credit facility (RCF) of A$200mn, a five-year RCF of A$200mn, a three-year A$100mn revolving acquisition facility and two A$15mn letter of credit facilities.