Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S biggest oil company, Repsol, has announced plans for a record number of investments after reporting a net annual profit of €4.2 billion last year.
Repsol added that it invested €4.1 billion last year in new projects and will increase that figure to a record-breaking €5 billion this year.
Over a third of the money will go to low-carbon projects including the transformation of six refinery sites in Spain and Portugal.
Despite profits rising from refining fuel, the company has warned that the profitability and competitiveness of its refineries ‘would be impacted if certain aspects affecting the oil sector in Europe are not changed, such as the insecurity of the business environment and regulatory and fiscal pressure’.
Repsol CEO, Josu Jon Imaz, said: “In Europe we are highly dependent on imports because regulators have preferred to forget the need to invest in oil and gas and, also, in refining capacity.”
“High prices are not falling down from the sky, they are a consequence of the wrong decisions taken in Europe,” he complained.
With windfall taxes introduced on energy companies in Spain, Imaz said Repsol was more than paying its fair share to the government and that it would launch a legal challenge against the levy.
“We made a record tax contribution of €17 billion in 2022 internationally, with 70% of that in Spain, which make us the leading Ibex-35 company that pays the most taxes in this country,“ he said.
“Debate over profits has to be put into context with populist slogans only hindering business activity, causing distrust in investors, reducing investment and economic activity, cutting down on tax collection and putting jobs at at risk,” Imaz declared.
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