16. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Future minimum rental payments required under operating leases, primarily for real property that have noncancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2018, are as follows:



Years ending December 31	(In thousands)
2019	$	71,640
2020	59,594
2021	47,264
2022	34,490
2023	24,493
Thereafter	40,302

Rental expense for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 was $86.0 million, $82.0 million and $76.7 million, respectively.

From time to time, a number of lawsuits and claims have been or may be asserted against the Company relating to the conduct of its business, including litigation relating to commercial, product and employment matters. The outcome of any litigation cannot be predicted with certainty, and some lawsuits may be determined adversely to WESCO. However, management does not believe that the ultimate outcome of any such pending matters is likely to have a material adverse effect on WESCO's financial condition or liquidity, although the resolution in any fiscal period of one or more of these matters may have a material adverse effect on WESCO's results of operations for that period.

In an effort to expand the Company's footprint in the Middle East, WESCO has been doing business since 2009 with WESTEC Supplies General Trading (“WESTEC”), an industrial equipment supplier headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. WESTEC has a line of credit with a maximum borrowing capacity of approximately $6.7 million to support its working capital requirements and joint sales efforts with WESCO. Due to the nature of WESCO’s arrangement with WESTEC, WESCO has provided a standby letter of credit under its Revolving Credit Facility of up to $7.3 million as security for WESTEC’s line of credit. As of December 31, 2018, WESTEC had an outstanding loan balance of $6.4 million. Management currently believes the estimated fair value of the noncontingent guarantee on the line of credit is nominal and therefore a liability has not been recorded as of December 31, 2018.