Argentine president Cristina Fernandez announced on Wednesday that wellhead natural gas prices are to rise substantially from current levels, an estimated 44%, with the purpose of attracting more investments and increasing production. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesCommon sense at last,pay for YPF and you might attact investors,your habit of dishonouring international contracts mitigates against you however.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 08:02 am - Link - Report abuse 0@1
Nov 29th, 2012 - 08:43 am - Link - Report abuse 0Agreed. This is a case of too little far too late.
I also think her adoring fans won't be too happy to see their fuel prices increasing at an amount way about the true inflation rate of 25%.
This could turn into a double edged sword for her. Yes, Argentina despately needs the revenue raised by its gas and oil fields, but the people of Argentina have been spoilt with extremely low fuel costs.
She should have started the price increases when she was re-elected, and gradually increased them. It wouldn't hurt the consumer too much then, as they would gradually get used to the increasing price. But to suddenly increase prices by 44%, and there is no way that these prices can't be passed on to the consumer, will no doubt see further and bigger demonstrations than occurred on 7N.
The woman is so inept...
Hardly surprising, what would be the point of running YPF in the red when you have expropriated it.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 08:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0#2 Keep dreamng, this is a clever move and I'm sure will NOT mean a 44% increase for the consumer...
Nov 29th, 2012 - 09:09 am - Link - Report abuse 04 British_Kirchnerist
Nov 29th, 2012 - 09:28 am - Link - Report abuse 0How does that work then? Is the government going to buy it and then sell it to the people at a loss?
any entity that invests anything in Argentina must be out of their mind, you may as well just put a torch to it, at least you could warm your hands.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 09:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0If any investments appears, expect the wellhead prices to be quickly 'converted' into Argentine Thermal Units.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 10:37 am - Link - Report abuse 0An Argentine thermal unit is a tent.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 11:16 am - Link - Report abuse 0Prices are not preventing investment and expropriation is not preventing investment. Expropriation and no reimbursement is preventing investment. If Repsol never gets reimbursed, the only investment they will get are the ones they can twist arms with like Chevron and the lawsuits.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 11:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0BK to see asslips as clever your IQ and age must be awfully confusing for you.
@8 Idle
Nov 29th, 2012 - 11:41 am - Link - Report abuse 0That was last year, this year it's three quarters of a tent that the government statisticians tells you is a tent and a half.
@7 - LOL!
Nov 29th, 2012 - 12:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I think you have KFC's policy figured out.
If Repsol had been awarded the 44% - i.e. enough profitability to make viable their exploration and extraction program, there might well have been no expropriation - with or without any compensation (believe it when you see it).
Nov 29th, 2012 - 01:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0And yes, YPE/government can sell this 'energy' temporarily at a loss, balancing the books elsewhere. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer places from which to balance the books.
['Temporary' means 'just before elections'.]
I bet that old botox queen almost choked having to use the words British Thermal Units not sure why any company would want to invest in such a country like Argentina
Nov 29th, 2012 - 01:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0FANTASTIC!!! This will certainly yield positive results.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 03:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0#13 No real company with money will invest in Argentina unless they reimburse Repsol ...period. They can force a company like Chevron based from the court action in another country.........but nothing will change.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 04:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Another tax that the Argentine people have to pay for the kirchnerist party costs!!!!
Nov 29th, 2012 - 04:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As it is where I live we pay almost 30% more for gas than do people living in Bs. As. and we produce 30% of the gas produced in the country!!!!
So now because CFK cannot keep up the payments to the unemployables we now will have to pay 44% more to heat our homes, thanks a lot CFK!!!!
Bad move the companies will take those profits home and still not invest a cent. just like in the 90s when they enjoyed the world's highest rates in Argentina and the investment was nugatory.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 04:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It a thinly veiled attempt to attract businesses to gain profitibility and then expropriate. Unlikely anyone will take the bait. Asslips the cuntina has six months to get something going before the cold weather arrives.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 05:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Comment removed by the editor.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 06:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0he is an asshole
Nov 29th, 2012 - 06:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@19
Nov 29th, 2012 - 06:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0goodnight sussie
Keep up the good work CFK we love and support you 108%, let IMF thieves cry us a river.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 06:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.gregpalast.com/the-globalizer-who-came-in-from-the-cold/
Comment removed by the editor.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 06:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0BK is right. That's 44% in -dollars- so 69% increase in pesos. Wait, this doesn't even count in the planned deval to 5.3.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 07:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Is this is what they use to generate electricity? That would affect the cost of doing biz as well as home economics.
About 52% is from fossil fuel (natural gas). Argentina is drowning in gas so that is not a huge issue. Oil is not used much in his area.
Nov 29th, 2012 - 07:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The other half is 35% hydroelectric (which is a very high figure in world standards), 10% nuclear, 2% geothermal, 1% wind and other.
even when they get their own,
Nov 29th, 2012 - 08:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0they are not happy, and still want more.
Nice to see that the moderators are keeping the knockoff posters at bay. A lot of the world today also considers hydro electric unfriendly to the environments....naturally argentina has the highest numbers
Nov 29th, 2012 - 09:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Every type of energy-winning is unfriendly to the environment in some way or another, either directly or indiectly (like opportunity cost).
Nov 30th, 2012 - 04:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But to live without energy is so definitely unfriendly to human beings ... like what happens to sub-Saharans when the wood/brush runs out.
Harms to the env. can be more local - eg hydroelectric, or more global - eg coal, shale oil/gas, etc ..... and the Argentinians will be helping the global destructions by favouring shale carbon over hydro-schemes.
17 nostrolldamus the second
Dec 01st, 2012 - 11:10 am - Link - Report abuse 0Of course the foriegn companys will take their profits home,thats what they do! why else would they my and other shareholders capital?
Of course if you had access to capital markets you do it yourselves,but you dont,so you cant
25 whatever name you use today
Dec 02nd, 2012 - 07:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Argentina is drowning in gas
Really?
Why does Argentina import 2,000,000,000 US$ worth of natural gas, if Argentina is drowning in gas?
TTT caught in a lie as usual.
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