The negative news, which included cutting reserve figures by 25%, has effectively wiped E2.3 billion off Repsol’s value.
The oil and gas producer said the fall in profits was due to increased royalty demands on its operations in Bolivia, where production royalties increased from 18% to 50%.
Meanwhile, the company has been forced to reassess its reserve capacity in Bolivia and Argentina following the attainment of new information suggesting that extraction will be more complicated. In Argentina alone, Repsol has been forced to reduce its reserve estimate by 20%.
The reserve reduction is a further blow to the company’s already struggling exploration business with is currently only replacing 20% of Repsol’s annual extraction rate.
