Repsol's Antonio Brufau honoured at PE awards

Antonio Brufau helped transform Repsol it into an outfit that punches well above its weight - and shepherded the company through its most serious crisis. Profile by Anthea Pitt

For Antonio Brufau, 2014 has been a good year. Repsol's non-executive chairman stepped aside as chief executive in April this year, handing over day-to-day responsibility for the Spanish integrated firm to Josu Jon Imaz. Before doing so, Brufau crowned his 10 years at the company's helm with what may become his defining achievement - securing $5 billion in compensation for the 2012 expropriation of its Argentine unit YPF.At the start of 2012, Repsol's future looked bright. Months earlier, Brufau saw off an attempted boardroom coup over dividends and earnings, led by minority shareholders from Sacyr Vallehermoso and Pemex. Capping this was the announcement that, via YPF, Repsol had identified