US Energy Department closes $480 million Arena Energy loan

Arena Energy announced on 10 November 2026 that its wholly owned subsidiary Elkhorn Offshore had closed a $480 million loan from the US Energy Department’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing for Project Elkhorn. Elkhorn Offshore was formed to own and reinvest in offshore production infrastructure serving Arena’s Southern Eugene Island fields in federal Gulf waters. The department says it is its first closed loan supporting domestic oil and natural gas production.

The project will modernize 22 offshore platforms in the Southern Eugene Island area of the Gulf of Mexico, off Louisiana. Arena, a privately held offshore oil and gas producer, says the work will refurbish and reactivate idle platforms, expand production and water-handling capacity at active facilities, and connect future wells to existing pipelines through new natural gas infrastructure.

Projected production and jobs

The Energy Department expects the project to add up to 38,600 barrels of oil and 77 million cubic feet of natural gas per day at peak production. Those are forecasts, not output already delivered. Arena currently produces about 30,000 barrels of oil per day from its offshore Gulf operations, the department says.

Over the project’s life, Arena estimates that it could add about 125 million barrels of oil and 250 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The company and the department also project 2,400 construction jobs and 400 operations roles. Arena estimates that the additional production would generate about $1.6 billion in federal royalties over the project’s life; that is not a guaranteed return on the loan.

Financing and next steps

The financing office was formerly known as the Loan Programs Office, which supported projects including renewable power, battery manufacturing and electric vehicles.