The Repsol president has had harsh words for the approach with which Europe is betting on decarbonisation. “The global leadership of the industry is at stake. If things continue like this, Europe will remain on the periphery of a large economic nucleus that will be Eurasia with a strong weight in China that will compete with the USâ€, Brufau warned.
In line with previous interventions, Brufau has criticized that Europe disregards technological neutrality to advance the “laudable objective of decarbonization for which it is betting.” “The reality is very stubborn and in the face of Europe’s closed commitment to electrification, the global reduction of emissions in the world is not very significant,” Brufau pointed out.
Despite these criticisms, the manager is confident that there is room for change and that a commitment to technological neutrality, betting on green fuels and ecological synthetic fuels, could position Europe as an industrial focus capable of competing in the future with the US and China. .
“Without a doubt, Respol will achieve this and be carbon neutral by 2050,†Brufau said. “And you and I to see it”, wished the CEO Josu Jon Imaz demonstrating the good harmony of the management tandem that the shareholders have confirmed at the head of the company, at least until 2027. After confirming the tenth and eleventh point of the agenda that proposed the extension of the mandate of both managers for four more years, despite the fact that Brufau had stated his possible withdrawal from the business in 2023.
During his speech before the hundred shareholders gathered at the Palacio de Congresos in Madrid, Brufau outlined the roadmap he wants to lead the company with in view of this new mandate. “The goal is for Repsol to be a multi-energy company so that citizens are the ones who can choose,” Brufau assured.
“Repsol will continue to bet on the production and extraction of hydrocarbons that will continue to be essential in this house and also in the world where there are 70% of the world’s population in developing countries that need it,” the manager insisted. All this without ceasing to bet on hydrogen, for example as a technology of the future.
For his part, Josu Jon Imaz detailed the accounts of last year in which Repsol obtained a net result of 4,251 million euros, 70% more than the previous year, with a profit close to the historic 4,693 million obtained in 2010.
“We are prepared for the future with an efficient industrial business and it is very important to guarantee that the energy transition must contribute to maintaining employment generation. We are committed to decarbonization but under the principle of technological neutrality,” said Imaz.
The CEO confirmed that the oil company will increase cash remuneration to shareholders by 11% this year, with a capital reduction of 50 million shares. This represents 0.73 euros per share in 2023, which together with the announced capital reduction would mean a total remuneration of 1.8 euros per share.
An increase that does not convince everyone, at least not one of the shareholders, Antonio del Barrio, who spoke this morning before the shareholders’ meeting who has demanded that the president return to recover a dividend of the euro per share in cash that the company lost in 2015 as a result of the impact of the previous crisis.
“You are very quick to lower the dividend when the crisis arrives, but very slow to raise it when the best results in the company’s history have been achieved in the last two years.”
