Galp rejects the accusation that it is making money off consumers due to the energy crisis and high prices. Chief Executive Andy Brown went on to say that the company had losses in the first half of the year to be able to supply gas to its customers in the Iberian Peninsula due to supply failures from Nigeria. The manager also criticized the Government’s decision to allow the return of more than a million consumers to the regulated gas market to protect themselves from increases, warning those who return that they will have to face a price increase, because the contract of purchases from Nigeria that supplies this market is also subject to regular price revisions.
The statements of the president of Galp were made this Monday at a conference on energy promoted by CNN Portugal, and where Andy Brown sought to dismantle the “three myths” that support the thesis that Galp is benefiting from excessive profits that should allocate an extraordinary rate .
The first myth. Are earnings excessive in the first half? The manager recalls that Galp went through two years of great difficulties due to the pandemic and that he has more than eight billion in capital invested. Earnings are only 10% of that capital, which is a lower return than in Europe. He also highlights that 80% of the cash flow (means released) comes from oil production, which is carried out mainly in Brazil and Angola.
second myth. We are profiting at the expense of consumers. The manager devalues Galp’s profits in Portugal. “We earn little money in Portugal”, barely 3% of profits. And “we even lost 135 million euros in Iberia due to supply cuts in Nigeria and despite these losses we never stopped fulfilling our contracts and supplying gas to our customers”. The manager takes advantage of the gas issue to criticize the Government’s recent decision to allow the return of 1.3 million gas customers to the regulated rate supplied by Galp, through those contracts with Nigeria which, being long-term, They allow a price that is less exposed to market fluctuations. Galp says that this withdrawal will bring more losses to the company and reveals that it is discussing the issue with the Government because this movement “affects our rights as an independent marketer”, in addition to representing a setback in the liberalization of the market and supporting some small businesses. business they didn’t need.
This article is exclusive to our subscribers: subscribe now and benefit from unlimited reading and other benefits. If you are already a subscriber, log in here. If you think this message is an error, please contact our customer service.
Source: Observadora
