The Department of Energy (DOE) announced the closing of a $480 million project loan to increase oil and natural gas production across the Gulf of America shelf.
The DOE will provide the loan to Arena Energy’s Project Elkhorn, which will “modernize 22 offshore platforms off the coast of Louisiana and, at peak production, is expected to add up to 38,600 barrels of oil per day and up to 77 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to U.S. energy production,” the department said in a Nov. 10 statement.
Arena Energy currently produces roughly 30,000 barrels of oil per day offshore in the Gulf of America region. The latest modernization effort is estimated to increase production capacity by more than 129 percent.
This is the first loan closed by the DOE in support of domestic oil and gas production. The loan underscores the DOE’s commitment to deliver reliable, affordable energy to families and businesses, the department said.
Project Elkhorn is expected to provide roughly 250 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 125 million barrels of oil over its lifetime. It is projected to create 400 operational jobs and 2,400 construction-related jobs.
“The United States is the world’s largest producer and exporter of oil and natural gas, and thanks to President Trump, American energy production will continue to grow,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in the statement.
“By providing financing for projects like Project Elkhorn, the Energy Department is expanding domestic production and strengthening our energy security to power American prosperity for decades to come,” Wright said.
The loan closure comes after the completion of all environmental, legal, financial, and technical requirements by the DOE, Arena Energy said in a Nov. 10 statement.
The increased production resulting from the $480 million in funding for Project Elkhorn is estimated to result in $1.6 billion in additional royalties for the federal government, which is more than three times the federal loan amount, the company said.
“Arena was founded on the belief that the mature fields of the Gulf Shelf still hold vast potential, and Project Elkhorn is a critical part of that strategy,” Mike Minarovic, CEO of Arena Energy, said in the statement.
The DOE financing “lets us put existing infrastructure back to work, develop proved reserves, and keep producing some of the most reliable barrels in the world,” Minarovic said.
EDF Loans
The $480 million loan is being provided by the DOE’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF), the department said, adding that the Project Elkhorn loan was made possible by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law by President Donald Trump last year.
The bill removed the requirement that financed energy infrastructure under energy dominance financing reduce, use, or sequester greenhouse gases and air pollutants, according to an April 2026 report from the Energy Information Administration.
The EDF program guarantees loans to projects that add energy or enhance reliability of the power grid. It funds projects seeking to retool, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure that has stopped operation.
The EDF can provide funding for projects involving nuclear power, coal, and power lines in addition to oil and gas.
The EDF office has issued a conditional loan commitment worth $17.5 billion to rebuild America’s commercial nuclear supply chain, the DOE said in a June 23 statement. The funding was aimed at helping speed up the deployment of commercial nuclear reactors.
EDF previously closed a $26.5 billion loan package to support constructing or upgrading more than 16 gigawatts of power infrastructure, according to a Feb. 25 DOE statement. The funding is projected to deliver more than $7 billion in electricity cost savings to residents in Alabama and Georgia.
