Compañía Española de Petróleos (Cepsa)

Compania Espanola de Petroleos SAU, or Cepsa, said in an IPO prospectus that it took the "final shipment" of Iranian crude in September. The Suezmax tanker Monte Udala loaded a cargo of around 1 million barrels of Iranian crude on Sept. 29, which it delivered to Cepsa’s Huelva refinery about three weeks later, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

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Spanish refiners Cepsa and Repsol have been using Madrid-based Ares bank but Cepsa will stop imports from early July, sources familiar with the matter said, as later cargoes had not been agreed prior to the sanctions announcement. Cepsa previously said that it would load crude until November and hoped for a waiver. ("Spooked by Trump, Europe's Iranian oil purchases set to plummet," Reuters, 6/29/2018.)

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“Our trading activity (remains) business as usual ... We continue to strictly conform with European Union and international laws and regulations,” a Cepsa spokesman said." (6/6/2018).

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On January 3, 2017, the National Iranian Oil Company (“NIOC”) listed CESPA as one of the “designated 29 non-Iranian companies [ ] qualified to participate in its pending tender round for upstream projects.”  (Oil & Gas Journal Website, “NIOC qualifies 29 firms for tender round,” 1/3/2017). 

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On February 14, 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that a tanker “will carry 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil to the European Union for Spain’s Compania Espanola de Petroleos, or Cepsa.” (Wall Street Journal, “Iran Launches First Oil Shipments to Europe in Three Years,” 2/14/2016).

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On March 7, 2016, Bloomberg reported that 1 million barrels of crude oil from Iran arrived in Europe at a refinery owned by Cia. Espanola de Petroleos.” (Bloomberg, “Iran Oil Lands in Europe for First Time Since Sanctions End,” 3/7/2016).

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"Iran continues its quest for new crude buyers, especially in Europe, but its loyal customer base will continue to hinge on countries like India and China, whose demand for Iranian crude has observed a steady rise this year. Iran has found interest for its crude in some unusual places in the past few months as it continues it diversify its list of buyers. Earlier this month it agreed to sell 1 million barrels of crude oil to Hungary via Croatia as it seeks to widen its post-sanctions customer base, which now includes cargoes sold to oil major BP, France's Total, Greece's Hellenic Petroleum, Spain's Repsol and Cepsa, Russia's Lukoil, Poland's Grupa Lotos, Portugal's Petrogal and Italy's Saras and Iplom. Iran said it has held talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina this week as it hopes to expand its list of crude oil export destinations. However, its shipments to Asia remain the pillar of its export market." (Platts, "Analysis: Iran eyes new crude oil buyers, Asia remains linchpin," 11/1/2016).

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"Other oil companies in the Mediterranean including Spain's Cepsa and three other Italian oil firms, ERG, Iplom and Saras have planned to take their last cargoes from Iran in June, other market sources said." (Reuters, "Eni suspends Iran's debt payments in oil," 5/31/2012) 

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“Compañía Española de Petróleos, S.A. (CEPSA) leads an industrial group made up of over 11,000 people, whose core activity is the refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products.

The company additionally has a strong petrochemicals division that is tightly integrated with the refineries, and is also involved in other energy-related businesses, such as oil and gas exploration and production, natural gas operations and electric power generation and sales.

CEPSA has been in the market for almost 80 years. Thanks to its flexibility and ability to adapt, CEPSA has become one of the leading companies in its sector in Spain. Through the progressive internationalisation of its activities, it also has business interests in Algeria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Panama, Peru and Portugal, and sells its products all over the world” (Company website, “CEPSA – Profile”).

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"Cepsa, the second-largest oil company in Spain (behind Repsol YPF) refines 121,900 barrels of crude oil daily, primarily in three refineries. Its oil exploration and production efforts are focused on Algeria, Colombia, Egypt, Peru, and Spain. It has proved reserves of 172.5 million barrels of oil equivalent. Cepsa's marketing network includes more than 1,800 gas stations in Spain and Portugal. It also produces a range of chemical products (including polyester precursors, phenol, plasticizers, and polypropylene) and has gas and power interests. Spain's TOTAL controls 49% of Cepsa and Abu Dhabi's IPIC, 47%%" (Hoovers, “Compañía Española de Petróleos, S.A.,” 2010).

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As of April 2010, Cepsa imports 25 thousand barrels of crude oil per day from Iran. (Reuters, “Iran’s Crude Oil Buyers in Europe, Asia,” April 18 2010.)

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“Spain helps Iran in the fields of shipbuilding, oil and gas, power production and fishing, and Iran supplies Spain with mainly oil and petrochemicals.”

“In 2001, Iran exported to Spain $837 million worth of crude oil and various types of petrochemical products, while importing from that country $278 million worth of machinery, power turbines, medicine and chemical products. Trade activities aside, Spain has become a large non-Iranian investor in Iran's fossil energy and petrochemical industries over the last few years. This has reflected particularly in the activities of three major Spanish oil and petrochemical companies in that country. Repsol has invested 2 billion euros (roughly $2 billion) in exploring and extracting Iran's natural gas. The latter has uplifted the status of Spain in the Iranian economy, a result of the Iranians' efforts to reduce their consumption of oil and to switch to natural gas both for economic and environmental reasons.  Another Spanish oil company, Cespa, has been involved in the development of Iran's Cheshmekosh oilfield, while negotiating for its participation in developing certain Iranian offshore oilfields in the Persian Gulf. In the wake of President Khatami's visit to Spain, Cespa and the Spanish government expressed hope to settle disagreements with the Iranian government on the latter during the presidential visit” (Asia Times, "Spain seeks a bigger share in Iran," November 23, 2002).