Origin Energy : Australia Pacific LNG satisfies Train 1 project finance tests

As a 37.5 per cent shareholder in Australia Pacific LNG, the amount of the project finance facility guaranteed by Origin has reduced by US$1.9 billion to US$1.3 billion.

In May 2012, Australia Pacific LNG secured a US$8.5 billion project finance facility with US EXIM, China EXIM and a consortium of Australian and international banks, to fund the downstream component of the project including construction of its Curtis Island LNG facility.

Under the terms of the facility, Australia Pacific LNG's shareholders - Origin, ConocoPhillips and Sinopec - each provided a several guarantee (proportional to its shareholding percentage) of the debt during the downstream project's construction phase.

Origin CEO, Frank Calabria said, 'The completion of project finance tests for Australia Pacific LNG's first production train demonstrates the project is performing in line with lenders' expectations set when the US$8.5 billion facility was put in place in 2012.'

The release of the remaining US$3.4 billion in project finance guarantees for Australia Pacific LNG will occur following completion of lenders' tests for the project's second production train, which is expected to take place during calendar 2017.