Spanish refiners cut fuels output as demand drops

Spain's two main integrated oil companies Repsol and Cepsa have reduced refinery production in the face of sharply lower fuels demand caused by measures to control the Covid-19 pandemic.

Spain declared a two-week state of emergency from 16 March, which it has successively extended while tightening measures on non-essential travel and economic activity. The lockdown will not be lifted until 26 April at the earliest.

Cepsa has no plans to halt production from its 240,000 Algeciras or its 220,000 b/d Huelva refineries and is producing enough to meet the demands of all of its clients, it said. Repsol, which has nearly 900,000 b/d of crude distillation capacity, said it is "adjusting production according to demand" and keeping its five refineries on stream.

Maintenance work at Repsol's 120,000 b/d La Coruna refinery is still underway, but progressing "normally", the firm said. It said work schedules have had to be adjusted to avoid any risk of contagion among workers. It has expected maintenance at Coruna to be completed by the end of March .

Spanish products demand is likely to drop sharply. Fuels logistics company CLH — which handles three-quarters of the gasoline sold in Spain — said its deliveries of road fuels fell by more than a quarter year on year in March, and its kerosine deliveries fell by more than a third. Spain's state-owned petroleum reserves corporation Cores will publish official fuels consumption figures for March in the first week of May.

By Jonathan Gleave