Rabat – Spanish oil and gas company Cepsa and American oil giant ExxonMobil have renewed their agreement for the manufacture, distribution, and supply of ExxonMobil’s marine lubricants in Spain, Gibraltar, and Portugal while expanding into the Moroccan market.
The decade-long agreement allows Cepsa to sell ExxonMobil’s marine lubricants (specialized oils and greases needed for the operation of ships) in the four major Mediterranean ports in the cities of Algeciras, Ceuta, Gibraltar, and Tangier.
Cepsa’s expansion to Morocco would start with sales in Tanger Med and then expand to Casablanca port before reaching other national ports in 2023.
“Our expansion into Morocco will help ensure that vessel operators have even better access to the lubricants they need, when and where they need them,” ExxonMobil’s Global Aviation and Marine Lubricants Director Joanne Eu said.
In addition to prioritizing the sustainable supply of customers in the Mediterranean, Cepsa and ExxonMobil have argued that the renewed agreement seeks to support the decarbonization of the marine industry.
As Cepsa’s Director of Commercial and Clean Energies Carlos Barrasa stated “Now, we…will be able to accompany our marine customers in the crucial next years as the marine industry embarks on its own decarbonization journey.”
In January, ExxonMobil pledged to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, adding that it is planning to invest more than $15 billion by 2027 on lower-emission initiatives including carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and biofuels.
However, a report by The Guardian has argued that the American oil giant “has the largest climate-busting investments” that are contributing to the change of global temperatures beyond 2 degrees celsius.
The report further noted that ExxonMobil would invest $12 million a day until 2030 in the discovery and exploitation of oil and gas resources that could help push global temperatures beyond 2.7 degrees celsius.
In the third quarter of 2022, ExxonMobil reported a record-breaking $20 billion profit, which is $5 billion more than the company’s climate pledged budget.
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