Repsol Q1 upstream production slips 3% on quarter to 710,000 boe/d

Barcelona — Spanish integrated energy group Repsol's upstream oil and gas production in the first quarter of 2020 fell 3% from the previous quarter to 710,000 b/d of oil equivalent as volume declined in three of its four producing regions, particularly Europe and Africa.

Output in the Europe and Africa region, which includes Libya, fell 23% quarter on quarter to 96,000 boe/d.

Repsol's share of production from Libya's El Sharara field can be as much as 39,000 boe/d, but output has suffered interruptions following a shutdown at the field in January and a force majeure on Libyan crude loadings throughout the first quarter.

In its other regions, Repsol reported a 3% quarter-on-quarter output decline in Latin America to 319,000 boe/d and a 4% decline in Asia, Russia and Rest of World to 71,000 boe/d.

The North America region, by contrast, contributed 224,000 boe/d in the first quarter, up 11% quarter on quarter and 30% higher year on year.

All figures are provisional with confirmed results due to be published May 5.

In the downstream segment, the company reported a benchmark refining margin of $4.70/b, down from $5.60/b in Q4 2019 and down from $5.30/b in Q1 2019. It did not reveal whether it made a premium to this benchmark in the period.

The company's utilization rate in Spain was 82.6%, down from 85.7% in Q4 2019 and 92.8% in Q1 2019.

The company started planned maintenance at Coruna during the first quarter, which is still ongoing, as well as some maintenance work at Bilbao. It has also adjusted its output since mid-March to account for the sharp drop in domestic demand related to Spain's State of Alert measures, which have caused gasoline and jet fuel demand to drop by around 90% year on year.

The conversion rate at its Spanish refineries was 100.4% in the first quarter, down from 104.3% in Q4 2019 and 102.1% in Q1 2019.

Repsol owns and manages five refining complexes in Spain (Cartagena, Corunna, Bilbao, Puertollano and Tarragona) with a total capacity of around 896,000 b/d.