I was greatly honored to be appointed as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cepsa in November 2018, and I would like to begin by acknowledging the signifi cant contribution to the company s success made by my predecessor H.E. Suhail Al Mazrouei. His service to the Board and the Company were critical as we navigated successfully through a period of signifi cant market turmoil. Everyone associated with Cepsa owes him their thanks.
It gives me great pleasure, for the fi rst time, to present you with Cepsa s Annual and Corporate Responsibility Report, where you will fi nd an overview of the most important activities and business events in 2018, as well as insight into some of our most signifi cant plans for the future.
To begin, I would like to mention Cepsa s share capital offering, a process undertaken as part of Mubadala Investment Company s strategy, as the company s sole shareholder, to realize value from some of the most robust companies in its portfolio. Ultimately, unfavorable market conditions signaled that it was best to postpone the offer but the process reinforced Mubadala s strong conviction in the company s value and the strength of its strategic plan for future growth.
While that effort was ongoing, all of Cepsa s teams and business units maintained their intense focus on delivering excellent operational and fi nancial results, and the ambitious plans for the growth of the business, while maintaining superior standards of safety and environmental performance.
In the upstream business, we signifi cantly strengthened our portfolio; adding low-cost, long life reserves offshore Abu Dhabi in an alliance with ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company). In Algeria, we renewed our RKF oilfi eld production contract with Sonatrach, increased our stake in the Bir el Msana (BMS) oilfi eld and achieved the start-up of our fi rst gas fi eld, Timimoun.
We were also awarded exploration areas in the Tampico-Misantla basin in the Gulf of Mexico.
Turning to Refi ning, the Company s business in Spain has two of the most effi cient refi neries in Europe where we continue to optimize and integrate operations while executing upgrade projects that will help to maintain our leadership and meet upcoming regulatory changes.
We continue to grow our Marketing business, launching new products and services such as ultra-fast chargers for electric cars, and consumer energy packages that bring together electricity, gas and fuel for vehicles.
Cepsa s Chemicals business has a number of important projects underway aimed at maintaining its position as the world leader in linear alkyl benzene (LAB), the raw material used to make biodegradable detergents., These include the technological revamp of the plant in San Roque, and plans for the construction of a new LAB plant in Abu Dhabi, which will provide Cepsa with better access to high demand markets like Asia thanks to its strategic location.
Since 2005, the Company has adhered to the United Nations Global Compact Principles, and renewed its commitment to the initiative in 2018, strictly applying its Code of Ethics and Conduct Policies.
We are also committed to contributing to the enormous challenges facing society in the coming years, as outlined in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Consequently, all of Cepsa s activities have been undertaken with particular care for the communities where we operate, ensuring that we meet the highest safety and quality standards with maximum respect for the environment.
Cepsa s aim is to generate long term value for its shareholder, out-performing
its industry peers, through sustainable and profi table operations.
I would like to personally thank all the professionals that form the Cepsa team for the great work carried out in 2018 to deliver that challenging goal.
MUSABBEH AL KAABI Chairman of Cepsa
32018 ANNUAL AND CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT
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