The Spanish oil company Moeve, formerly known as Cepsa and the country’s second refiner, announced on Monday that the gigantic power outage affected Spain and Portugal cost it more than 50 million euros ($ 58 million). The company now plans to have legal action.
The adjusted net profit fell to 324 million euros ($ 378 million) in the first half, while the gross operating surplus (EBITDA) dropped 33 % compared to last year, to stand at 733 million euros.
These two figures exclude exceptional income and losses, such as asset sales.
The cost of the judgment and then restarting its two refineries when and after the April 28 breakdown weighed on the operating profit, said the company. It may indeed take one to two weeks so that such installations regain their full capacity after a complete stop.
“We are considering a possible legal action once the breakdown has been determined,” said a spokesperson for the group.
The operator of the Spanish network, Ree, owned by Redeia, rejected the fault with the electricity suppliers concerning the origin of the failure. A government report has pointed out the incapacity to properly calculate the energy mix, one of the factors that have limited the network’s ability to cope with a rise in tension that caused the cut.
The Repsol competitor, who operates five refineries in Spain, said that breakdown and other more minor incidents of power supply had cost him 175 million euros in the second quarter.
Moeve refineries were also arrested for planned maintenance in the first six months of the year, which has further reduced use rates, while refining margins went from $ 9.20 a barrel to the first half of 2023 to 6 dollars per barrel over the same period this year.
Detained by the Abou Dhabi Mubadala Fund and the American Investment Capital Fund Carlyle Group, Moeve changed its name last year to reflect its turn to low carbon activities, as part of a plan of 8 billion euros. Since 2022, the company has sold 70 % of its oil production assets, including its operations in Abu Dhabi and South America.
(1 dollar = 0.8597 euros)
