Repsol benefits from Cartagena start-up as capacity doubles

A bold investment in a once barely-economic refinery has given Repsol its ‘refinery of the future’

In a project described as Spain’s largest-ever industrial investment, Repsol has doubled the capacity of its Cartagena refinery and turned the simple-configuration facility into one of the most highly-upgraded in Europe. The €3.3 billion ($4.1bn) three-year project was started-up at the end of 2011 and has led to sharply-increased margins in Repsol’s five-refinery system in Spain, the company said in July. Meeting Spain’s rising demand for diesel was the main driver for the investment, and according to Joaquin Garcia-Estan Salcedo, Repsol’s director of engineering and development, Cartagena now produces “close to 60%” of its output as diesel. Over the first six months of the year the refiner