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2021 INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT REPORT

Through the refining activity, crude oil is distilled and transformed into higher-value-added products that can be used in many industries, including the transport, residential, industrial and petrochemicals sectors, thereby enabling society's energy and material needs to be met. The selection of crude oils for this process entails seeking those that are most suitable for our refineries and have an appropriate hydrocarbon content for the various end products that we manufacture.

In 2021, refinery availability and operations continued as normal despite the complications posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The future of this activity is conditioned by the refining overcapacity in Europe and by the competitiveness of new refineries outside Europe. Regulation is also a highly influential factor in the industry, where environmental requirements and technical product specifications are increasingly restrictive, including tighter limits on CO2 emissions and the increased use of biofuels.

In this respect, Cepsa aspires to remain a benchmark energy company in Europe. So we are pressing on with our operational optimisation programmes while maximising biofuel production to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

We are developing various short- and long-term initiatives at our refining facilities to reduce energy consumption through new technology investments.

We are also immersed in a far-reaching digital transformation process to boost refinery competitiveness and lead the industry's technology transition.

We aim to be a major national player in biofuels by maximising our co-processing capacity and production, increasing asset values and forming partnerships to secure supplies of advanced feedstocks.

We also want to become a leader in the green hydrogen value chain by investing specifically to meet both our own process demand and supply demands of industrial green hydrogen in southern Spain, in line with the European Union s ambitious objectives.