The war in the Middle East has once again shaken the foundations of the global economy: the soaring price of oil has now comfortably settled at $100 per barrel of Brent crude – the benchmark in Europe. This represents an increase of over 35% since the start of the war in Iran on February 28. Faced with this situation, not all players on the Madrid stock exchange view the charts with the same concern. While sectors such as tourism and intensive industry are suffering from increased costs, Repsol has become the Ibex 35's weakest link.

The price war at gas stations has erupted. At least temporarily, and with greater savings the more contracts and service agreements signed with the companies. This comes after fuel prices soared the day after the outbreak of war in the Middle East and the surge in oil prices, which reinforced the situation. from the control of abuses by the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC)The major companies have entered into a price war ahead of Easter. In any case, the biggest discounts are obtained if other services related to electricity or gas are contracted.

Repsol has updated its current 2024-2027 strategic plan and extended it to 2028, at a time marked by the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on energy supply and costs, particularly on raw materials such as oil and gas. "We had doubts [about doing it]," acknowledged the company's CEO, Josu Jon Imaz, during the plan's presentation to analysts this Tuesday. But the leading oil company in Spain and fourth-largest electricity company has decided to put this conflict aside and present the plan it has drawn up for the next three years: "A solid foundation on which the company stands," Imaz said, referring to the plan. The executive anticipated that it is "too early" to know what the impact of the war will be on the energy market, but he was cautious in making comparisons with the scenario four years ago, when the war broke out in Ukraine. He also said that Repsol does not have a "direct" exposure in the Middle East region. "The oil that comes from that area is a very small part," he stated. The new plan forecasts an average Brent crude oil price of $65 per barrel between 2026 and 2028, far from the $100 it reached this week due to the conflict in the Middle East. But also far from the 2025 annual average ($69 per barrel).

Repsol posted a net profit of €1.899 billion in 2025, an 8.1% increase compared to the previous year's €1.756 billion, as reported by the company to the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) on Thursday morning. Adjusted net income – which measures the performance of its businesses (exploration and production, industry, customers, etc.) and excludes extraordinary items – reached €2.568 billion, a 15.1% decrease compared to 2024. Repsol cites five "challenges" stemming from geopolitical and economic uncertainty and the resulting volatility in energy markets. As an example, it points to the price of Brent crude falling 14.5% to an average of $69 per barrel. The company also notes the impact of the massive power outage on April 28 on its financial results. The "electrical blackout" caused the shutdown of its five refineries, as well as its three large petrochemical plants in Spain and Portugal. This was compounded by the inactivity of its service stations and other establishments. A few months ago, the oil company already opened the door to "possible legal action." In this regard, if we look at the industrial business (basically, its industrial complexes), the adjusted net profit for this area stood at 963 million euros at the end of 2025, 33.4% less than in 2024.

The Spanish National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has imposed fines totaling €20.5 million on several Repsol Group companies and banned them from participating in public contracts, the agency, chaired by Cani Fernández, announced on Tuesday. Specifically, the CNMC sanctioned Repsol Comercial de Productos Petrolíferos, Solred, and Campsa Estaciones de Servicio for implementing an "abusive" profit margin reduction policy, to the detriment of independent service stations with which it competes. According to the agency, during the sanctioned period, the energy company held a dominant position in the wholesale market for automotive fuels at service stations nationwide. "Competition law requires that companies in a dominant position bear particular responsibility for not restricting competition," the CNMC added.

The multinational energy company Repsol and the defense company Indra are the two companies that have benefited most on the stock market from the United States' military intervention in Venezuela, which has resulted in the arrest of the Latin American country's president, Nicolás Maduro. In the US, oil companies opened the day with strong gains.

The four major energy companies listed on the Ibex 35, Iberdrola, Endesa, Naturgy, and Repsol, have just presented their results for the first nine months of the year, that is, between January and September. And although themassive power outage of April 28 It has had an impact on their accounts, but in one way or another they have managed to navigate the effects of the blackout that plunged the Iberian Peninsula into darkness, to the point that three of them (Iberdrola, Endesa, and Naturgy) expect to close 2025 with record profits. However, the businesses of the four companies are not the same, although some have more in common, as is the case with Iberdrola and Endesa. Therefore, the underlying reasons for how they have managed to avoid the impact are also different.

Repsol posted a net profit of €1.177 billion in the first nine months of the year, representing a 34.3% year-on-year decrease. Volatility and lower crude oil prices were key factors in this decline. Regarding the group's adjusted net profit, which specifically measures business performance, it reached €2.173 billion in September, 19% lower than the €2.684 billion of the previous year. However, in the third quarter, the energy company saw improved results across all its business segments, primarily Refining, Consumer, and Low-Efficiency Generation. Third-quarter net profit more than doubled compared to the same period last year, reaching €574 million. Similarly, adjusted quarterly profit grew by 47% to €820 million. Repsol's gross operating profit (EBITDA) for the period from January to September 2025 stood at €5,013 million, a decrease of almost 10%.

After 48 hours of the blackout and with normality restored, the Spanish government is lowering the decibels, but maintaining its urgent request to companies to send all the data from the peninsular zero on Monday. Pedro Sánchez surprised everyone on Tuesday when he insisted that the "pertinent responsibilities" would be held from the electricity system operators, despite not yet knowing the causes, with a much harsher tone than that displayed this Wednesday by the Third Vice President, Sara Aagesen, who was more conciliatory. At the press conference, he praised the work of the president of Red Eléctrica, Beatriz Corredor—she has assured that she will not resign—and did not consider the electricity companies hindering their cooperation. However, he did advance that one of the first actions of the committee investigating the blackout, which includes the CNI (National Institute of Statistics and Census), will be to visit the companies' facilities to verify that they have not been attacked. In other words, all hypotheses remain open.

Donald Trump's latest decisions don't just target tariffs. The US president has also targeted oil, particularly oil bearing a Venezuelan stamp. Trump has revoked Repsol's and other oil companies' permits to export crude oil and derivatives from Venezuela to the rest of the world. The decision has activated diplomatic channels due to the potential economic impact it could have on the company chaired by Antoni Brufau. Last week, in the midst of the trade war, Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares discussed the matter with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to ministry sources. In 2024, Repsol produced 67 million barrels per day in the country, with a significant portion of the crude supplied by the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA as payment in kind for the country's debt to the Spanish company. Its equity exposure in the country was €504 million, according to the financial report for that year. But to what extent does Trump's decision affect the arrival of oil to the country?

US President Donald Trump has notified the partners of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, including Repsol, that he has revoked their permits to export crude oil and derivatives from Venezuela. The measure, which terminates licenses granted during the term of his predecessor, Joe Biden, comes just days after Trump himself announced 25% tariffs on all countries that purchase oil or gas from the Latin American country, which are due to go into effect next Wednesday.

Schroders Greencoat, a British renewable energy infrastructure management giant, has made a new entry into the Spanish renewable energy business. It has agreed to become a partner with a 49% stake in Repsol's 400-megawatt (MW) solar and wind portfolio. The deal is valued at approximately €580 million.

The Social Division of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) has confirmed that the Hodgkin lymphoma suffered by a former Repsol employee at the Tarragona petrochemical plant is occupational. The Catalan court has dismissed the appeals filed by the energy company and the Fraternidad mutual insurance company against the previous ruling by Tarragona Social Court No. 3, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the Colectivo Ronda law cooperative, which advised the former employee. This initial court ruling confirmed that there was a causal link between the employee's lymphatic cancer, for which he was granted permanent disability in 2019, and exposure to chemical agents, particularly benzene, during his work at the Tarragona plant.

The Repsol guide has just announced its opinions on Catalan restaurants.The enigma of the chef Albert Adrià deserves two alone, the symbol with which they reward quality, and also other restaurants outside Barcelona: Villa Retiro, by chef Fran López, in Xerta; Espíritu Roca, in Sant Julià de Ramis and within the hotel run by the Roca brothers, and L'Aliança, located in the town of Inglés.

The European Commission has made public the aid it grants to 77 projects that are committed to decarbonization, one of the chosen ones being the storage of CO₂ that the energy company Repsol is considering opening underwater, in a cavity located 50 kilometers from Amposta. In total, the European Union Innovation Fund will provide Repsol with €205 million if it decides to move forward with the storage facility. However, first, the State must grant the company a research permit—which has already been requested—and the conclusions of this research, which could last up to four years, must be favorable both for the environment and for the return on investment that it would represent for the company. "We are very pleased and proud to receive this European support for the TarraCO₂ project," stated Javier Sancho, director of Repsol's industrial complex in Tarragona, although he made it clear that "the project is still in a very early phase." Sancho also stated that "without technologies such as CO₂ capture and storage, key sectors such as petrochemicals, steel production, and cement are at risk of relocation."

From an energy perspective, 2024 was marked by the end of the great crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prices for both electricity and oil moderated and, in the case of electricity, there were even days with negative prices in the wholesale market, something that had never happened in Spain. But the large energy companies that are part of the Ibex 35, the index of the Spanish stock market, overcame the ordeal of price moderation with significant profits. The four largest companies in the sector – Repsol, Endesa, Iberdrola and Naturgy – together obtained a net profit of 11,157 million euros, almost 4.3% more than in 2023. 2024 (start of the war in Ukraine), when the four major companies achieved a joint record profit of 12,780 million euros. However, these companies' 2024 earnings are the second-best record since 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Repsol made a profit of 1,756 million euros in 2024, 45% less than the previous year, as reported this Thursday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). The company attributed the reduction in profits to a "complex" geopolitical context, in which the uncertainty about the economic recovery in China stands out; the fall in the prices of crude oil, gas and electricity, and moderate margins in refining and low in the chemical industry.

Heads and tails in the tug of war between the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) and oil company Repsol. The National Court has annulled a €22.59m fine the regulator imposed on Repsol in 2015. However, the same CNMC has just imposed a new sanction on the company for not fulfilling the conditions imposed when it became majority shareholder in Catalan Petrocat.