Spain’s king backs less polluting fuels in Peru
Spain’s King Felipe VI on Wednesday concluded his official visit to Peru after inaugurating the new low-sulfur gasoline production modules in which Madrid’s Repsol group has made significant investments at the La Pampilla refinery near Lima.
The Spanish monarch pursued his agenda alone on the third and last day of his and his wife’s visit to Peru, meeting in Lima with figures linked to the country’s independence bicentennial celebrations before traveling to La Pampilla, in neighboring El Callao province, while Queen Letizia began her return flight to Madrid.
Repsol president Antonio Brufau and Peruvian Energy and Mines Minister Francisco Ismodes welcomes Felipe at the entrance to the refinery, the country’s largest such facility, and - accompanied by Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra - the king attended a meeting at which factory director Luis Felipe Llamas explained to the two heads of state various details about Repsol’s presence in Peru.
Then, Felipe and Vizcarra toured the refinery until they arrived at the new low-sulfur gasoline production module, which they examined with the two ministers along with other officials and invited guests from the two countries.
With the start of operations at the gasoline sulfur-removal units, Repsol brings to fruition the process it launched in October 2016 of investing 660 million euros ($746 million) to produce environmentally-responsible gasolines.
In October 2016, the firm inaugurated a new diesel fuel module that allowed it to avoid emitting into the atmosphere 100 tons of sulfur dioxide each day.
La Pampilla, located in El Callao’s industrial zone some 20 km (12 miles) north of Lima, has been Peru’s main refinery since it began operations 50 years ago, and in 1996 it was acquired by Repsol’s affiliate in Peru.
The Repsol group, which supplies the refinery mainly with crude oil imported from Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia and Nigeria, has been a factor in the Peruvian market for 23 years, during which it has gained control of 12 percent of national hydrocarbon production and possesses 11 percent of the country’s reserves.
During his three-day visit to Peru, Felipe met with officials involved with Peru’s bicentennial celebrations, along with Vizcarra, both leaders presiding at the signing of several bilateral accords.
After visiting La Pampilla, the Spanish monarch traveled to the nearby Ala Aerea No. 2 airbase, from where he will depart for Guatemala to participate in the Ibero-American Summit activities to be held in the colonial city of Antigua.
