Repsol boosts production, adjusted net income in 1Q

Spanish oil company Repsol reported a net income of 610 million euros in the first quarter of 2018. This was a drop compared to 689 million euros earned in the first quarter of 2017.

In 1Q 2017, Repsol booked an extraordinary effect on the value of oil product inventories held as part of Spain’s strategic reserve due to the appreciation in the price of oil.

Adjusted net income in the first quarter of 2018, which specifically measures the performance of the company’s business units excluding inventory effects, reached 616 million euros, compared with the 570 million euros earned between January and March 2017, which represents an increase of an 8%.

Adjusted net income in its Upstream unit 320 million euros, a 43% increase than that obtained between January and March of last year. Repsol said the performance of the upstream business was boosted by the measures taken as part of the synergies and efficiencies program, the greater production volume, and the increase in realization prices of crude oil and gas led to improved performance.

During this period, Repsol’s hydrocarbon production reached 727 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, a record since 2012 thanks to increased activity in Libya, the startup of Juniper (Trinidad and Tobago), Shaw and Cayley (United Kingdom), Reggane (Algeria) and Kinabalu (Malaysia), and the acquisition of the Visund field (Norway).

During the period, the company announced a new hydrocarbon discovery in Colombia in the CPO-9 block, which is part of the major development project of Akacias, whose first phase was approved in 2018.

In Norway, the company signed an agreement in early February to acquire 7.7% of the Visund field, located in the North Sea. With this deal, Repsol increases its production in the country by 50% to 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

In the month of March, the company was awarded two new exploration blocks in Mexico to reach a total of six licenses obtained since the liberalization of the sector last year. In Brazil, Repsol won three awards in the BR-15 round.