The SBA Just Boosted Loan Guarantees to 90% — Does Your Business Qualify?

Getting a lender to say yes to a small business loan often comes down to one number: how much risk the bank has to carry if things go sideways. This month, the Small Business Administration made that number a lot friendlier for one specific group of business owners. As of mid-August 2026, small businesses across the energy production supply chain can now get a 90% SBA guarantee on their loans — up from the standard 75% offered through the agency's flagship 7(a) program.

If your business touches oil, gas, coal, mining, or the equipment and services that support them, this is a financing door that just opened wider, and it's worth understanding exactly how it works before you talk to a lender.

What actually changed

The SBA announced an enhanced 90% Energy Guarantee, available through the agency's International Trade Loan (ITL) Program, established under the agency's updated standard operating procedures known as SOP 50 10 8.1. The goal, according to the agency, is to encourage private lenders to put more capital into energy production, distribution, grid modernization, and equipment manufacturing — with the stated aim of increasing domestic energy output and helping lower costs for households and businesses.

The practical effect for a business owner is straightforward: a 90% guarantee means the lender is only exposed to 10% of the loan if a borrower defaults, compared to 25% exposure under the standard 7(a) guarantee. That's a meaningful difference in how a bank underwrites the deal, and it can be the difference between an approval and a decline for businesses that don't fit a traditional lending profile.

Who's actually eligible

This isn't a guarantee available to every small business — it's specifically targeted at companies operating across the energy production supply chain. Based on the SBA's announcement, eligible industries include:

• Oil and natural gas extraction
• Coal and metal mining
• Quarrying and mineral production, including uranium, gold, silver, copper, and iron ore mining
• Limestone, granite, sand, and gravel operations
• Companies providing drilling and other support services to oil, gas, and mining operations

If your business falls into one of these categories — or supplies equipment, transportation, or specialized services to companies that do — this program is worth a direct conversation with a lender to confirm eligibility for your specific operation.

Why the International Trade Loan Program specifically

The ITL Program has historically been aimed at small businesses that export goods or that have been adversely affected by import competition, offering financing for fixed assets and working capital. Folding the new energy guarantee into this existing program means eligible energy-sector businesses can tap into a structure that was already built for larger financing needs, rather than the SBA having to stand up an entirely new loan product from scratch.

That matters practically because ITL loans are generally structured to support bigger capital needs — think equipment purchases, facility expansion, or working capital tied to production scale-up — rather than the smaller working-capital loans some owners might be used to from standard 7(a) financing.

What this means if you're applying

Your odds of approval may improve

Because the lender's risk exposure drops from 25% to 10% of the loan amount, banks that might have hesitated on a marginal deal have more room to say yes. This is especially relevant for capital-intensive energy businesses that don't always fit neatly into conventional underwriting boxes — drilling support companies with lumpy revenue, mining operations with high upfront equipment costs, or newer entrants trying to scale production capacity.

You'll still need your paperwork in order

A higher guarantee doesn't mean lighter documentation. Lenders will still want to see solid financials, and having a clean profit and loss statement ready before you apply will speed up the process considerably. You'll also need your EIN and basic business formation documents in order, since lenders verify entity status early in the underwriting process.

Start with an SBA-approved lender who knows the program

Not every bank or credit union that offers 7(a) loans is necessarily set up to process ITL loans efficiently, since the ITL program is used less frequently than standard 7(a) lending. The SBA has said lenders and small businesses interested in the updated program should contact the agency's national team of Finance Managers directly for guidance — a step worth taking before you shop the loan around to multiple banks, since not every loan officer will be familiar with the energy guarantee's specific requirements.

Why this program exists right now

The timing lines up with a broader federal push to expand domestic energy production and modernize the grid, and it reflects an approach the SBA has taken before: using its guarantee authority to steer private lending toward specific policy priorities without spending federal dollars directly. For business owners in the energy supply chain, the policy reasoning matters less than the practical outcome — a meaningfully lower barrier to getting larger financing approved.

What to do next

If your business operates anywhere in the energy production, mining, or drilling-support space and you've been putting off a financing conversation because your last loan application stalled or got declined, this is a reasonable moment to revisit it. Start by confirming your business's specific eligibility with an SBA lender or the agency's Finance Manager team, and make sure your financial documentation is current before that conversation happens. Programs tied to specific policy goals like this one don't always stay in place indefinitely, and lenders that move quickly to understand a new guarantee structure tend to have an easier time processing applications early, before their pipeline fills up.

Photo by Zbynek Burival on Unsplash