Last week, President Cristina Fernandez announced a law allowing Argentina to expropriate a 51% stake in YPF, in which Spain’s Repsol holds a 57.4% interest.
The move was intended to nationalise YPF, as Repsol’s failure to invest sufficiently in YPF was resulting in an energy crunch in the country reported Reuters.
The bill, which will be put before the Senators on Wednesday for approval, clearing the way for going to the lower house, is considered to enable the government regulate the oil and gas industry.
Meanwhile, Repsol demanded $10bn in compensation from Argentina in exchange for the assets that it intends to re-nationalise.
Repsol, which acquired YPF from the Argentine government for $15bn in 1999, was valued at $18bn and is said to have demanding compensation basing on those figures.
