Mark Castillo-Bernaus is a partner in the Energy, Infrastructure, Project and Asset Finance Group in London.
Mr. Castillo-Bernaus has acted for lenders, sponsors and borrowers in numerous project finance transactions covering a wide range of sectors such as oil and gas, energy, mining/metals and infrastructure. He has particular experience in large complex multi-sourced project financings in Europe, the Middle East and Africa involving export credit agencies and development financial institutions (including, among others, US Ex-Im Bank, JBIC, IFC, EIB, COFACE, SACE, Euler Hermes, AFD, AfDB and KfW).

Representative transactions include:

• Advising the sponsors, Qatar Petroleum and Exxon Mobil, on the US$10.3 billion Barzan Gas Project in Qatar – one of the largest project financings in Qatar to date (including financing by way of commercial loans, Islamic financing instruments and export credit agencies);
• Advising the lenders, including export credit agencies US-Exim, COFACE and Euler Hermes, in connection with the financing of the US$10 billion Emirates Aluminium project in the UAE, which once constructed, will be the largest single site aluminium smelter in the world;
• Advising the lenders on the financing of the US$2.2 billion Riyadh PP11 independent power project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (including financing by way of commercial loans, Islamic financing instruments and export credit from US Ex-Im Bank);
• Advising the lenders to a consortium that bid on the Qurayyah power project in Saudi Arabia;
• Advising Nord Stream AG in connection with the financing of the US$9 billion Nord Stream gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea (including financing from commercial banks, Euler Hermes, UKF and SACE) ("2009 European Gas Deal of the Year" by Project Finance Magazine);
• Advising the sponsors, Qatar Petroleum and Shell, on the US$6 billion Qatargas 4 LNG project financing ("Middle East Oil & Gas Deal of the Year" by Project Finance Magazine); this deal was structured and documented to accommodate a Rule 144A/Regulation S bond offering as part of the financing plan or through future debt incurrence;
• Advising the sponsors, Qatar Petroleum and ConocoPhillips, on the US$5.8 billion Qatargas 3 LNG project financing (including financing from commercial banks, US Ex-Im Bank and JBIC);
• Advising the sponsors, Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil, on the financing for the US$11.2 billion Qatargas 2 project (including financing from commercial banks, US Ex-Im Bank and SACE together with an Islamic facility); with a total of US$7.6 billion in debt financing, this project was at the time the third largest project of any kind and the largest energy project in history ("Deal of the Year" by Project Finance International);
• Advising the sponsors, BHP Billiton, Mubadala, DUBAL and Global Alumina, on the financing of the US$4 billion alumina refinery project in the Republic of Guinea, which — once constructed — will be one of the largest alumina refineries in the world (including financing from commercial banks, development finance institutions and ECAs, such as IFC, EIB, African Development Bank, COFACE, China Eximbank and ECIC);
• Advising the European Investment Bank on its €300 million facility to finance the construction and operation of the first phase (165 MW) of an offshore wind farm in Belgium developed by Belwind NV, with a total project cost of €690 million ("Power Deal of the Year" by Project Finance International and "Wind Power Deal of the Year" by Project Finance Magazine);
• Advising the European Investment Bank on its €400 million facility to finance the construction and development of a car plant in Romania;
• Advising the lead arranger, ANZ Investment Bank, on its US$31 million bridge and US$100 million project financing of the Chinguetti oilfield in Mauritania — the first ever limited recourse financing in Mauritania;
• Advising several international finance institutions (EIB, IFC, ADB, AFD and KfW) on the financing of the EASSy telecoms cable project in Africa;
• Advising ABN AMRO, as lead arranger, in its US$200 million financing of the Imperial Energy Group;
• Advising BNP Paribas as lender in a US$100 million reserve-based loan facility to Urals Energy Public Company Limited, a Cyprus-based borrower that owns a number of Russian oil production subsidiaries;
• Advising the government of Qatar on the Pearl US$5 billion gas-to-liquids project;
• Advising the European Investment Bank on its co-financing with the IBRD, IFC and commercial banks of a US$2.2 billion oil pipeline project in the Republic of Chad and the Republic of Cameroon;
• Advising the European Investment Bank in connection with the US$176 million financing for the Tucuman Power Plant in Argentina;
• Advising the lenders (including IFC) on the limited resource financing of a major mobile telecoms operator in Pakistan;
• Advising the European Investment Bank in connection with the US$135 million financing for the Eldoret Lanet IPP in Kenya; and
• Advising on all financing aspects with respect to the South Hook LNG Terminal in the UK.

Bars and Courts
Supreme Court of England and Wales, 1998

Education
LLM, Bristol University
LPC, Oxford Institute of Legal Practice

Publications
"Cutting edge close-up: Chad-Cameroon pipeline opens financing for African projects," International Financial Law Review, September 2001
"New EU regulation offers LNG market benefits," LNG Review, 2010

Languages
English

Citizenship
British