Refinancing break for Epic

Tuesday, 4 March, 2003 - 21:00

EPIC Energy has been granted an extension on its loan facility, which was up for refinancing mid-month.

The WA gas regulator’s office says a final decision on tariffs Epic can charge for the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline will be released by the end of the month.

Epic says this assurance, together with a “positive” Supreme Court outcome last August, has helped the company gain the six-month extension from its 29-member bank syndicate.

Epic has been unable to settle on an acceptable access regime for the DBNGP, which it purchased from the WA government for $2.4 billion in 1998.

This adversely affected plans for proposed expansions of the line, Epic says, and the company initiated the Supreme Court action against the WA gas regulator over draft access arrangements.