Repsol pins continued losses on pandemic

Spanish firm highlights oil and gas price slump as cause of earnings woes during year in which it drilled new wells and put a big bet on renewables

Repsol reported a narrowing annual loss for 2020 despite earnings from its upstream and industrial divisions plunging, as the Spanish refiner took smaller impairments versus a year earlier. The company, which has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, lamented a 35pc decline in average Brent crude prices and a 19pc drop in Henry Hub LNG prices last year which forced it to reduce the value of its inventory by €978mn ($1.19bn). Repsol also slashed the value of its exploration and production by €2.91bn. These accounting adjustments led Repsol to make a net annual loss of €3.29bn. That compares with a net loss of €3.82bn in 2019, when the company took impairments of €5.82bn that were