Lisbon: Repsol YPF, Spain's biggest oil company, said second-quarter profit rose 60 per cent after crude prices increased and refining margins improved.
Profit adjusted to exclude inventories and one-time items rose to 523 million euros (Dh2.5 billion) from 326 million euros a year earlier, the Madrid-based company said yesterday in a regulatory filing. That compares with the 455 million euro median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The company is investing in exploration in Brazil's offshore Santos Basin and other regions to increase output, while seeking to reduce exposure to mature fields in Argentina.
As with other companies, its refining margins are now improving after demand fell last year with the global economic slump.
Brazil, Peru projects
Repsol on April 29 said it forecasts annual production growth of as much as 4 per cent through 2014 as projects in Brazil and Peru come on stream. The company plans to invest 28.5 billion euros in the period.
It will develop the Guara and Piracuca fields in Brazil, Kinteroni in Peru, Margarita-Huacaya in Bolivia, Cardon IV in Venezuela and Reggane in Algeria, according to that plan. The company has estimated a reserve replacement ratio of more than 110 per cent in the next five years after reaching 94 per cent in 2009.
Repsol is also spending to improve refining margins and new units at its Spanish refineries in Bilbao and Cartagena will start operating at the end of 2011.
The refining margin indicator for Spain, a measurement of the profit from turning crude into fuels, widened to $3.30 a barrel in the second quarter from $0.50 a barrel a year earlier.
- 523m: profit (in euros) for the second quarter this year
- 110%: reserve replacement ratio forecast in next five years
- $3.30: refining margin for a barrel in second quarter
