Premier Oil shares jump 10% after lenders agree refinancing deal

Shares in Premier Oil jumped more than 10 per cent on Wednesday morning after the company confirmed it has cleared a further hurdle to completing its long-awaited debt refinancing.

Premier Oil, one of the largest independent oil producers in the North Sea, had been in talks with lenders for nearly a year to renegotiate its debt pile, which stood at $2.8bn at the end of last year.

The company announced detailed terms of a deal last month but was still waiting for a final private lender to commit to voting in favour of the refinancing; on Wednesday it confirmed that lender had signed up to the terms.

Premier is aiming to complete its refinancing by the end of May, though shares in the group have remained volatile as nerves over the agreement persist.

They rose as much as 10.5 per cent on Wednesday and at publication time were up 9.1 per cent at 59.5p.