Banco Sabadell | According to press reports, the US has withdrawn Chevron’s licence to export crude oil from Venezuela, with the effective date of 3 April. This decision is in response to the failure of the Maduro government to fulfil its electoral commitments and is part of a package of extended sanctions that will also affect companies such as Halliburton, Schlumberger, Barker Hughes and Weatherford, which will have to suspend their operations from 9 May.
In other news, the Board has approved the implementation of a buyback plan for a maximum of €300 million (2.1% of capitalisation) and 50 million shares. The programme will last until 30 July 2025.
Assessment: Negative news with limited impact while we wait for sanctions to materialise for other European companies. Repsol has control of strategic assets in Tomoporo and La Ceiba through an agreement with PDVSA (Petróleos de Venezuela). Repsol aims to increase crude oil production in Petroquiriquire in order to recover part of the debt accumulated by PDVSA. The Spanish company currently has a net asset exposure to Venezuela of €504 million (3.6% capitalisation) and a debt to PDVSA of €634 million (12% NFD’24), largely provisioned. Production accounts for about 4% of the total.The buyback would amount to 53 days of trading if 25% of the daily volume were to be realised.
