2023 Was a Year in Which Bracewell ’ s Commodity Finance Team Went From Strength to Strength
Bracewell ’ s expanded commodity finance team continued to work on top of the market and innovative commodities and commodities finance transactions . Investment in renewable fuels drove significant deal volume in the sector , with asset owners and commodity merchants looking for unique ways to unlock value and reduce risk with respect to their asset and production portfolios .
Bracewell ’ s significant experience saw us acting as a thought leader with respect to the participation and syndication of inventory monetization structures that are designed to provide liquidity and / or reduce risk in the refinery and production space .
Relative stability in commodity prices meant that commodity traders did not have the debt needs that we saw in 2022 , but nonetheless continued to rely on large syndicated facilities to back-stop capital needs , such as the $ 3 billion senior , secured borrowing base revolving credit facility to a global energy and commodity trading group , in which Bracewell represented the administrative agent .
In 2023 , Partners Brian Rogers , Scott Le Bouef and Senior Counsel David Carlson joined Bracewell ’ s commodity finance team .
Bracewell advised commodity merchants , banks and asset owners with respect to term loans , asset-based financing and structured finance and other intermediation structures designed to finance renewable fuel projects , renewable fuels production , renewable feedstocks and environmental attributes . Bracewell also advised on the structuring of financings and physical supply and offtake arrangements with respect to renewable feedstocks , renewable fuels , tax credits and other environmental attributes .
Bracewell was instrumental in advising clients , and preparing materials for review by the Californian regulator , on issues related to taking Californian Carbon Credits as collateral and related enforcement and transfer rights .
The Year Ahead
We anticipate a continued focus on renewable feedstock and renewable fuels production . We expect financial institutions to work with producers to syndicate intermediations and other inventory monetization structures permitting more liquidity providers to participate in the space . While an anticipated uptick in commodities volatility may lead to increased cash needs for commodity merchants , given cash reserves , this may not lead to the increased debt needs of prior years . bracewell . com