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Water management

Water is an essential resource for life, and we are therefore committed to using it efficiently, preventing risks, and minimizing impacts. As such, we sustainably manage water with the aim of seeking out new solutions at the operational level to minimize consumption, use it responsibly, and preserve the quality of the receiving bodies.

Endorsing the CEO Water Mandate

We bolstered our commitment to address global water challenges by joining the CEO Water Mandate. This is an initiative led by the United Nations Global Compact in collaboration with the Pacific Institute concerning water, sanitation, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Thus, we are showing our corporate effort and responsibility towards progress and continuous improvement in these six core areas of water stewardship:

Direct operations
Supply chain and watershed management
Collective action
Public policy
Community engagement
Transparency

Repsol Water Tool: Our risk analysis tool

We use the Repsol Water Tool (RWT) to assess the risks associated with water. This includes both internal risks (measurement quality, types of water use, treatment technologies, etc.) and external risks (availability, quality, and ecosystems that are withdrawal sources or discharge receiving bodies, future water availability, regulatory and business risks, etc.). This tool enables us to identify businesses and facilities where a greater management effort must be made and the needs for action that are a priority.

Our goals

Although the industrial transformation process will require an increase in our water needs, through the Water Zero project, in the industrial complexes on the iberian peninsula we are committed to:

By 2030

not to increase freshwater withdrawal*

By 2035

reduce freshwater withdrawal by 30%*

By 2050

achieve the ambition of net zero freshwater withdrawal*

_{* Compared to 2022 baseline}

At the Marcellus (U.S.) Exploration and Production asset, we are committed to:

By 2030

increase water reuse per well* to 10%, achieving 5% by 2026

By 2035

regenerate the natural capital of the ecosystem in this environment, reaching the ambition of net zero freshwater consumption*

_{* Compared to 2022 baseline and planning}

Water indicators

The following infographic reflects how Repsol manages water in accordance with the reporting requirements established by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standard, in particular, GRI 303: Water and effluents, within the 300 series (environmental issues). The aim is to facilitate public access to annual data (2022) and to communicate in a transparent manner what are the significant impacts on water and how these are managed.

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Main lines of action

The roadmap for sustainable water management to 2025 unfolds in concrete actions. These are the four lines of action:

External reuse

We encourage the use of alternative sources of water that do not come directly from the environment.

Efficient use

We work to reduce and optimize water consumption across our range of activities.

Internal reuse

We use the latest technologies that allow us to obtain high quality treated water for reuse in our operations.

Reduced impact of discharges

We comply with increasingly demanding external requirements and internal standards, with the aim of reducing the impact on the natural environment.

A collaborative approach

Water management should follow an approach that builds joint relationships between stakeholders and regulators for more effective management strategies that prevent risks and mitigate impacts.

Landscape with mountains surrounding a river

Maintaining channels for dialogue with our stakeholders

At Repsol, we open channels of communication between society and the Company, such as the Public Advisory Panel for the different industrial complexes, through which the concerns of local residents about safety, health, and the environment, including water, can be heard and conveyed.

Success stories

La Pampilla Water Footprint

La Pampilla refinery has obtained the independent Verification Declaration of its water footprint, according to the requirements of the ISO 14046 standard.

The water footprint assessment conducted in accordance with this standard:

Is based on the life cycle analysis
Identifies potential water-related environmental impacts
Includes geographic and temporal dimensions
Identifies the amount of water consumption and changes in water quality
Uses hydrology knowledge

This milestone marks a starting point in the verifiable measurement of the Water Footprint and will allow the deployment of actions for the improvement and sustainable management of the water resource. 

Reusing water from alternative sources

At the Tarragona Industrial Complex, we use regenerated water from the municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), which reduces the amount of water withdrawn from the environment. Under normal operating conditions, more than 10% of the total flow of water withdrawn comes from the municipal WWTP.

Efficiency improvement

The water use efficiency at the Cartagena Refinery makes us a European leader in the sector, with a water consumption ratio 26% lower than the average for other refineries.

Such great results, which are based on data from the European organization of oil companies for the protection of the environment and health (Concawe), have been achieved thanks to the implementation of specific measures included in the water plan of the industrial complex.

Technology Lab (Spain)

At the Technology Lab, they evaluate water treatment technologies to minimize the environmental impact of the effluents from our activities, determined by the presence of certain substances.

In the case of nitrogen content removal, moving bed biofilm reactor technologies (MBBR) improve on traditional technologies, reducing operating costs and space requirements for treatment, and improving discharge quality. This technology has been validated by the TechLab team at laboratory scale with successful results in its application to the particularities of the water streams of our operations.

To further improve the process, these tests have validated the use of another internal waste stream to perform this nitrogen removal operation, avoiding the consumption of commercial chemicals and thus creating a more efficient process.

Internal water reuse

We have implemented a technological solution for water treatment through clarification with micro-sand filters. In this way, we managed to increase the water recirculation ratio of the refinery itself and minimize the collection and dependence on water from the environment. We also managed to improve the quality of the water discharged into the Ojailén river.

Reducing the impact of discharges

We built a new water treatment plant at our Margarita gas production field in order to be able to have the technology to treat the water and achieve the quality specifications for the injection process in the event of a sudden increase in the volumes of formation water produced.

Sustainable water management

We are committed to a responsible and sustainable water management strategy that includes:

Risk analysis before choosing the location of gas wells to protect groundwater resources before, during, and after drilling
Recycling of produced water for reuse in the development of new wells
Safe water storage
Encouraging the transport of water by pipelines instead of trucks

We establish an ongoing dialogue with communities, landowners, and regulators to address concerns and share our water management plans.

Blue certificate in Block 57

Acknowledgement awarded by the National Water Authority (ANA), which has been obtained thanks to the measurement, reporting, and reduction of the water footprint and the development of a shared value project with the communities. Thanks to this project, the ecological and participatory restoration of exploratory platforms was carried out, which managed to recover the ecological integrity of the forest, essential for the conservation of local water resources.

Development of a hydrogeological study in Bolivia

As an example of a detailed study of the water supply sources in the areas where we operate, the Hydrogeological Analysis of the Margarita-Huacaya Field was conducted. This study assessed the underground water resources in the area including their availability and evolution, while analyzing fluctuation and weather dependency and checking the sustainability of the system.

The results allowed us to see how the aquifers in the area worked, control the available resources, assess the impact of extractions on underground water, and optimize the distribution of the sources in an environmentally sustainable way.

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