Repsol YPF

New energy challenges

Repsol YPF is fully committed to applying technology and innovation to its entire business chain, minimizing the environmental impact.

Repsol YPF: outlook and goals

Companies operating within the energy sector are currently facing two main challenges:

• Meeting growing demand for energy that will allow balanced social and economic development around the world;

• Doing so in an environmentally friendly way, stabilising atmospheric CO2 levels to ensure that they do not negatively affect the climate.

A successful response to these challenges requires a sustainable energy supply based on more efficient use of a diverse combination of fossil and renewable energy resources, allowing increased demand to be met in a way which respects the environment and limits CO2 concentrations in the 
atmosphere.

Repsol YPF’s response to the above-mentioned energy challenges is threefold:

• Increasing refinery capacity with efficient processes that obtain high-demand products (diesel oil) that are clean (without sulphur)
and produced from the most widely-available crude oils (heavy and high sulphur).

• Diversifying the company’s portfolio with non-oil products and contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions (biofuels, in particular biodiesel).

• Technological development as a source for improving processes, products and Repsol YPF's capacity to meet the challenges presented by the energy world.

Repsol YPF understands that a competitive edge in the global market can only be maintained by increasing technological 
investment in line with the company's growth, always on a par with the most advanced companies within the sector. Given the high levels of collaboration the company enjoys with the technological environment, investment in technology has additional positive external effects, such as knowledge exchange with universities and public centres, of mutual benefit to all involved.

Repsol YPF encourages public involvement of its technology and innovation professionals, thus enhancing the company’s academic and social ties.

In 2006 and 2007 Repsol YPF participated in over 100 forums, congresses and conferences focusing on the different technological disciplines in which the company is involved. Approximately 40 original articles were published by the company in scientific and technological magazines and over 300 collaboration contracts maintained with public and private universities and technological centres.

Repsol YPF is fully committed to applying technology and innovation to its entire business chain, from exploration of new crude oil and gas fields to the manufacture of products in industrial complexes, as well as research and development of new energy vectors. 

Repsol YPF’s main technological development activities focus on:

• Oil and gas exploration: improvements in the techniques applied to exploration activity in new hydrocarbon fields.

• Oil and gas production: growth in production and improvements in recovery levels for existing fields.

• Production of fossil fuels: the introduction of improvements to conventional fuel production processes to increase efficiency and, consequently, reduce their impact on the environment. 

• Products: the implementation of improvements to increase efficiency and to improve the properties of conventional fuels, thus reducing environmental impacts. 

• New fuels: taking the lead in R&D initiatives to develop high quality, sustainable biofuels, diversifying raw materials and improving their traceability, strengthening production structures, optimising use and guaranteeing quality for the end consumer.

• Other energy vectors: active technological observation of new energy vectors.

• Other products: specific development and research into other products such as derivatives, asphalt, innovative use of LPG and agricultural films.

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