7. DEBT

We have entered into a credit facility with Royal Bank of Canada, as administrative agent and collateral agent, and the lenders party thereto (“Credit Agreement”). The Credit Agreement provides a maximum commitment of $500.0 million and has a maturity date of March 31, 2020. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement are secured by various mortgages of oil and natural gas properties that we own, as well as various security and pledge agreements among us, certain of our subsidiaries and the administrative agent.

Our Credit Agreement is a current liability that matures on March 31, 2020. We expect to refinance or extend the maturity of our Credit Agreement prior to its maturity date. However, we may not be able to refinance or extend the maturity of our Credit Agreement or, if we are able to refinance or extend the maturity, we may not be able to do so with borrowing and debt issue costs, terms, covenants, restrictions, commitment amount or a borrowing base favorable to us.

The amount available for borrowing at any one time under the Credit Agreement is limited to the borrowing base for our midstream assets and our oil and natural gas properties. Borrowings under the Credit Agreement are available for direct investment in oil and natural gas properties, acquisitions and working capital and general business purposes. The Credit Agreement has a sub-limit of $15.0 million which may be used for the issuance of letters of credit. The initial borrowing base under the Credit Agreement was $200.0 million. The borrowing base for the credit available for the upstream oil and gas properties is re-determined semi-annually in the second and fourth quarters of the year, and may be re-determined at our request more frequently and by the lenders, in their sole discretion, based on reserve reports as prepared by petroleum engineers, using, among other things, the oil and natural gas pricing prevailing at such time. The borrowing base for the credit available for our midstream properties is re-determined in conjunction with the upstream borrowing base, and is generally equal to the rolling four quarter Adjusted EBITDA of our midstream operations, together with the amount of distributions received from the Carnero JV (defined in Note 11 “Investments”) multiplied by 4.5. Outstanding borrowings in excess of our borrowing base must be repaid or we must pledge other oil and natural gas properties as additional collateral. We may elect to pay any borrowing base deficiency in three equal monthly installments such that the deficiency is eliminated in a period of three months. Any increase in our borrowing base must be approved by all of the lenders. As of September 30, 2019, the borrowing base under the Credit Agreement was $282.0 million, with an elected commitment amount of $210.0 million, and we had $162.0 million of debt outstanding under the facility, leaving us with $48.0 million in unused borrowing capacity. There were no letters of credit outstanding under our Credit Agreement as of September 30, 2019.

At our election, interest for borrowings under the Credit Agreement are determined by reference to (i) the London interbank rate (“LIBOR”) plus an applicable margin between 2.25% and 3.25% per annum based on utilization or (ii) a domestic bank rate (“ABR”) plus an applicable margin between 1.25% and 2.25% per annum based on utilization plus (iii) a commitment fee of 0.500% per annum based on the unutilized borrowing base. Interest on the borrowings for ABR loans and the commitment fee are generally payable quarterly. Interest on the borrowings for LIBOR loans are generally payable at the applicable maturity date.

The Credit Agreement contains various covenants that limit, among other things, our ability to incur certain indebtedness, grant certain liens, merge or consolidate, sell all or substantially all of our assets, make certain loans, acquisitions, capital expenditures and investments, and pay distributions.

In addition, we are required to maintain the following financial covenants:

current assets to current liabilities ratio of at least 1.0 to 1.0 at all times;

senior secured net debt to consolidated Adjusted EBITDA ratio for the last twelve months, as of the last day of any fiscal quarter, of not greater than 4.5 to 1.0 if the Adjusted EBITDA of our midstream operations equals or exceeds one-third of total Adjusted EBITDA or 4.0 to 1.0 if the Adjusted EBITDA of our midstream operations is less than one-third of total Adjusted EBITDA; and

minimum interest coverage ratio of at least 2.5 to 1.0 if the Adjusted EBITDA of our midstream operations is greater than one-third of our total Adjusted EBITDA.

The Credit Agreement also includes customary events of default, including events of default relating to non-payment of principal, interest or fees, inaccuracy of representations and warranties when made or when deemed to be made, violation of covenants, cross-defaults, bankruptcy and insolvency events, certain unsatisfied judgments, loan documents not being valid and a change in control. A change in control is generally defined as the occurrence of one of the following events: (i) our existing general partner ceases to be our sole general partner or (ii) certain specified persons shall cease to own more than 50% of the equity interests of our general partner or shall cease to control our general partner. If an event of default occurs, the lenders will be able to accelerate the maturity of the Credit Agreement and exercise other rights and remedies.

The Credit Agreement limits our ability to pay distributions to unitholders. We have the ability to pay distributions to unitholders from available cash, including cash from borrowings under the Credit Agreement, as long as no event of default exists and provided that no distributions to unitholders may be made if the borrowings outstanding, net of available cash, under the Credit Agreement exceed 90% of the borrowing base, after giving effect to the proposed distribution. Our available cash is reduced by any cash reserves established by the Board for the proper conduct of our business and the payment of fees and expenses.

At September 30, 2019, we were in compliance with the financial covenants contained in the Credit Agreement. We monitor compliance on an ongoing basis. If we are unable to remain in compliance with the financial covenants contained in our Credit Agreement or maintain the required ratios discussed above, the lenders could call an event of default and accelerate the outstanding debt under the terms of the Credit Agreement, such that our outstanding debt under the Credit Agreement could become then due and payable. We may request waivers of compliance for any violation of a financial covenant from the lenders, but there is no assurance that such waivers would be granted.

Debt Issuance Costs

As of September 30, 2019 and December 31, 2018, our unamortized debt issuance costs were approximately $0.8 million and $1.4 million, respectively. These costs are amortized to interest expense in our condensed consolidated statements of operations over the life of our Credit Agreement. Amortization of debt issuance costs recorded during the three months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 was approximately $0.3 million and $0.2 million, respectively. Amortization of debt issuance costs recorded during the nine months ended September 30, 2019 and 2018 was approximately $0.9 million and $0.5 million, respectively.