Spain NEWS

Spanish gas grid operator Enagas said on Tuesday it expects to invest 4.76 billion euros ($4.77 billion) by 2030 on projects to ensure security of energy supply and decarbonisation. Under its strategic plan to 2030, the company aims to spend nearly 2.8 billion euros on projects including gas infrastructure, renewable hydrogen and biomethane production. When interconnector projects such as an underwater gas pipeline between Spain and Italy and a gas link between Spain and Portugal are added, the total investment sum comes to 4.76 billion euros, Enagas said.

Enel Green Power Espana has started construction of the 180MW Tico wind farm in the province of Zaragoza, Spain. The €181m project, which is located in Villar de los Navarros, will come online at the start of 2022 and generate 471 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year.It will comprise 26 3.65MW turbines and 17 5MW machines.

Sonnedix, the global solar independent power producer (IPP), has completed the acquisition of a 5.1 MW portfolio of operating assets from Diversis Energía, S.L., and Grupo Enerpal.The portfolio is comprised of two ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) plants located in Spain. Both plants are under the Spanish regulatory regime and have been in operations since 2008 and 2006 respectively.

Spain's Repsol posted a net loss and wrote down $1.5 billion in assets on Thursday. The COVID-19 health crisis has piled pressure on a sector already hurt by oil prices. The company revised down its gas price outlook for 2020 to $2 per million British thermal units, from $3. It burned cash, with a negative free cash flow of 217 million euros, but expected cash-flow from operations of 3.6 billion euros this year.

Rosneft Oil Co. said Friday that it swung into a net loss for the first quarter of 2020, and that it was launching a buyback program. The London-listed Russian oil company said net loss for the period was 156 billion rubles ($2.12 billion) compared with a net profit of RUB131 billion for the first quarter of 2019. The company said this was due mainly to a foreign-exchange loss of RUB177 billion due to the depreciation of the ruble and revaluation of foreign-currency financial liabilities.

Spanish energy firm, Repsol today registered a 28% dip in first-quarter profit, joining most of the oil and gas firms whose balance sheets were hurt by the coronavirus crisis. However, Repsol's adjusted net profit for the quarter that ended March 31st was 447 million euros ($487.5 million), beating analyst forecasts' of 330 million euros by a large margin.

Repsol recorded a 9% slump in the second-quarter profits, weighed down by lower oil prices and a sharp contraction in refining margins. Recurring net profit corrected for one-off gains and inventory results dropped to 497 million euros, from 549 million euros in the corresponding quarter last year. However, Repsol’s 2Q earning results still exceeded analysts’ expectations, credits to the new production and growth in its chemicals business.

Investment firm, the Carlyle Group has announced the acquisition of a substantial minority interest in Spanish firm, Compañía Española de Petróleos, S.A.U (Cepsa) from Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company. The transaction which is slated to conclude by 2019-end will make Carlyle a shareholder in Europe’s largest privately-owned integrated oil & gas firm. The agreement is in line with Mubadala’s strategy to draw in new partners.

In order to meet carbon emission targets, oil giant Shell has designed a range of Europe-wide plans worth £230m. The programme will start from this year as a part of Shell's three-year target in order to reduce its Net Carbon Footprint by 2% – 3%. The energy major will also invest in the creation of a 300-hectare forest project in Spain. "Shell will play its part", emphasized the firm's CEO.

Spanish engineering firm, Tecnicas Reunidas has secured an engineering design contract for ADNOC and Cespa’s joint project in Ruwais. The linear alkylbenzene (LAB) plant will also be the first derivative unit developed under the $45 billion-Ruwais downstream investment programme. An ADNOC statement read that the plant will manufacture 225,000 tonnes of normal paraffins per year and 150,000 tonnes of linear alkyl benzene per year.

Spain’s oil and gas producer, Repsol SA informed that the increase in oil prices supported the profit growth of the company. The improved profit has helped the company to reduce its debt burden. The stock of Repsol is up by 5.2% this year. In the third quarter, the net income of the company jumped to 588 million euros ($667 million) which was 528 million euros earlier this year.

Algerian state energy firm’s head informed that the country has signed an agreement with Spain and Italy’s Eni to provide gas. 9 bcm of gas per year will be supplied to Spain for a period of nine years and 3 bcm of gas per year will be supplied to Eni for an unspecified period of time. Talks between Sonatrach and Shell are in progress over the joint projects in Algeria.

Spanish oil major, Repsol SA, is planning to raise its dividend over the following two years, betting the crude price would remain above $50/bbl. The scrip dividend in terms of stock, which is expected to reach 90 euro cents this year, will rise to 1 euro, in 2020. Repsol, which no longer seeks significant growth in its oil business, sold a stake in Spain’s Gas Natural, SDG SA, this year.

The Madrid-based energy corporation, Repsol SA, will release a restructured business strategy a month from now that will point towards limiting oil and gas yield to current levels. Repsol is actively on the lookout to enter the renewable energy market. However, even if the company renounces growth in its hydrocarbon business, Repsol would still remain a major producer of oil and gas.