Spanish fuel business and forecourt retailer Repsol plans to cut its shareholder payouts and channel more funds to its lower-carbon business over the next five years as it spends less on oil and gas production.
Repsol, whose shares have lost 35% of their value this year in a sector-wide slump, lowered its 2021 and 2022 dividend to 0.60 euros per share in cash, from a current level of one euro per share, but said buybacks could push returns above one euro per share by 2025.
Larger peers BP and Royal Dutch Shell broke a long-standing sector taboo by cutting their dividends earlier this year as the coronavirus pandemic strangled fuel demand, but Shell hiked its payout again last month..
Oil, Gas Exploration
Repsol, an early mover among oil and gas firms in pledging to cut or offset all the emissions produced by the products it brings out of the ground, said it would reduce operating expenditure on oil and gas exploration and production by 15%.
Lower-carbon ventures will receive 30% of a planned 18.5 billion euros in capital expenditure over the next five years. The company aims to have installed 15 gigawatts in renewable generation capacity in 2030.
“We are showing robustness and resilience in an unprecedented scenario while also implementing innovative projects to achieve a more decarbonised world and deploying all the technologies possible, as all energy sources are necessary to address this challenge in a fair and effective way," commented chief executive Josu Jon Imaz.
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