Chile's state oil company seeks to capitalize on market conditions to reduce debt, optimize operations and advance the energy transition.
During the Ordinary Shareholders' Meeting of the directors of the National Petroleum Company of Chile (Enap), a balance of 2023 and a review of the main objectives for 2024 were carried out.
The annual meeting, held at the headquarters in Santiago, was attended, representing the Treasury, by the Ministers of Finance, Mario Marcel, and of Energy, Diego Pardow.
In the presentation of the results obtained in the 2023 period, the company highlighted profits of US$ 566 million, a historical Ebitda of US$ 1,414 million and the decrease in financial debt by US$ 602 million.
The company also addressed the advance of profits contributed by Enap to the Treasury in fiscal year 2023 for US$ 400 million and detailed the investments made to improve its environmental performance in the different units, while reiterating that the 2024 financial scenario for the industry is more adverse than in recent years.
Among the main milestones of 2023 was the start-up of the emissions abatement at the Aconcagua Refinery - technology called Wet Gas Scrubber - a system that has allowed the reduction of over 80% of particulate matter emissions and nearly 48% of carbon dioxide. sulfur generated by the operation's refining process.
Another of the events revealed was the signing of agreements for the development of green hydrogen projects in Magallanes, the resumption of the trans-Andean oil pipeline (OTA-OTC) and the placement of a bond for US$ 500 million in the international market.
On the occasion, the company reported the guidelines of the 2024-2028 Plan, whose central axis is to continue capitalizing on market conditions to reduce debt, optimize operations and advance the energy transition.
In this context, for this period Enap considers flexibly maintaining an investment plan of US$ 3.5 billion (subject to financial performance), which allows addressing aspects such as integrity and performance of refinery and logistics assets, operational excellence and safety. of processes, compliance with environmental commitments and the development of new businesses.
In addition, Enap announced that it is working on a Decarbonization Plan with specific goals for 2035 and 2050, which it will soon announce.
The Minister of Finance of Chile, Mario Marcel, valued the company's results. “This is undoubtedly very satisfactory, reflecting not only a better situation in terms of prices, but also good management of the company that is part of a policy agreed with the Ministry of Finance of debt reduction, reduction of the burden financial, management improvement and development of investments that are sustainable, not only from an environmental point of view, but also financially.
We congratulate the board of directors and the company's executives and encourage them to continue along this path that demonstrates that public companies, when they have the appropriate incentives, when they have the correct management capacity, are also capable of showing positive results for the community and for the State,” he noted.
The Minister of Energy, Diego Pardow, pointed out at the end of the meeting that “today we had a very good work day in which Enap showed us the good figures of its operations during 2023, numbers that reinforce the work that the company has been doing in the last years. Enap is a responsible, serious company that looks to the future.
Examples of this good management are the awarding of its first green hydrogen plant and the scaling up of the liquefied petroleum gas commercialization program that shows positive figures.”
The president of the Enap Board of Directors, Gloria Maldonado, highlighted the recent award for the construction of the state-owned company's first green hydrogen generation plant and emphasized the relevance of the series of agreements signed by Enap with private companies for the authorization of infrastructure that allows the industry of this fuel of the future to develop.
“Each of these initiatives is in line with the objective that we have assumed at Enap: to be an articulator to accelerate the energy transition in our country, developing fuels with lower emissions, improving our standards and being enablers of clean and renewable options,” he assured. the president of the Board of Directors.
Meanwhile, the general manager, Julio Friedmann, pointed out that “in the last 18 months, we have reduced Enap's debt by more than US$ 1,000 million. Today, we are focused on improving our financial situation, following the path of debt reduction and achieving a relevant increase in production.
For this we have a responsible investment plan, which prioritizes initiatives that allow us to safeguard the sustainability of the company, the good results and the business for the coming decades, ensuring operational safety and the reduction of environmental impacts."
