The markets begin to punish Repsol

Even though Repsol partially stopped the advance of crude oil off the Peruvian coast, the bad news for the Spanish-owned company continues. The shock wave in international markets after the environmental disaster in The Pampilla reached the ears of the rating agency S&P Global Ratings, which decided to place the company under its “ESG Assessment” criteria, which analyzes the capacities of entities and is based on how environmental, social and government factors could affect their audiences objectives and potentially generate a significant financial impact.

In this line, S&P projected that the incident in Peru could result in possible negative changes in some environmental aspects, based on your current strong assessment, as well as on repercussions on other factors of your scrutiny (including communities and land use and biodiversity), if Repsol “does not adequately manage” the negative effects on nearby biodiversity hotspots and on “several stakeholders, including fishermen, artisans and local vendors”.

S&P’s objective is to “complete the review in the coming months”, so it considers that any negative effect of Repsol’s ESG profile score of 61 would probably be less than five points. However, the rating agency still manages the version of “extreme waves on the Peruvian coast” after the volcanic eruption in Tonga, a scenario that is the subject of investigation by the Peruvian authorities. As recalled, Repsol shares had their biggest drop of 8.4% on January 19, four days after the disaster, as a result of the uncertainty about his license and the payment of compensation.

OAS with Peru

This dissatisfaction with the performance of the oil company was also reflected in the Organization of American States (OAS)which approved the declaration “Oil spills in the Ventanilla Sea and solidarity with the People and Government of Peru”, during the extraordinary session of its Permanent Council.

The organization led by Louis Almagro expresses its “dismay” at the “serious consequences” for the environment, economics, society and life and the populations affected by the oil spill that occurred on January 15 at the hands of the Repsol company at the La Pampilla refinery.

The OAS expresses its firm support for the Government’s efforts to ensure that those responsible for the incident “comply with remedying the damage caused,” and extends an “urgent” call to financial and development institutions to provide emergency humanitarian aid. The meeting was attended by Miriam Alegría, president of the OEFA Board of Directors, and the Peruvian ambassador to the OAS, Harold Forsyth.

Civil society in Spain with Peru

The Spanish NGO FACUA-Consumers in Action demanded that the Foreign Ministry of that country intervene in the recent oil spill on the Peruvian coast.

FACUA recalled the support that the oil company received from the Spanish Government for its operations in Peru in 2016 and 2017, through the Spanish Export Credit Insurance Company (Cesce).

He also recalled the endorsement he gave to the security measures of the multinational in a 2020 document, called “Contribution of Spanish companies to sustainable development in Ibero-America”.

The data

Equity. 92.42% of the shares of the La Pampilla SAA refinery are held by Repsol Perú BV, a company incorporated in the Netherlands and a subsidiary of the Spanish multinational Repsol SA