Spanish oil and gas company Repsol has released its 2018 results and reported a 2.9% increase in hydrocarbon (oil and gas) production to 715,000 boe/d in 2018. The growth was propped up by the startup of new projects in Algeria, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, Peru and Malaysia along with an acquisition in Norway and the connection of new wells in Marcellus (United States). Oil production increased by 2.4% to 261 kb/d, while gas production rose by 3.2% to 454 kboe/d. Sales of oil products remained stable (-0.1%) to 51.8 Mt.
In May 2018, the company divested its 20% stake in Naturgy to Rioja Bidco Shareholdings, controlled by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, for a total consideration of €3.82bn. The company took the decision mainly in order to to restart investment after years of debt reduction. The asset was considered by Repsol as non strategic and the divestment helped the company to improve its balance sheet (45% fall in net debt).
The firm also aims at becoming a significant player in the Spanish power generation market and intends to raise its installed power capacity from the current 2,950 MW toward its target of 4,500 MW by 2025. In November 2018, it completed the acquisition of the majority of Viesgo's unregulated assets for a total consideration of €750m, including 700 MW of hydropower generation (run-of-river and pumping storage) and two CCGT power plants with a combined capacity of 1,650 MW (Algeciras and Escatron). It also gained access to 750,000 electricity and gas households and business customers, a major step towards its key objective of reaching 2.5 million retail electricity and gas consumers (market share above 5%) by 2025.