MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Repsol board backs compensation deal offered by Argentina for seized YPF

Cristina Fernandez seized a majority stake in YPF from Repsol in April 2012

Spanish oil group Repsol's board Wednesday backed a draft multi-billion-dollar compensation deal over Argentina's 2012 seizure of the company's YPF subsidiary. The deal seeks to repair the financial hit taken by Repsol when Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez in April 2012 ordered the seizure of Repsol's 51-percent stake in YPF.

 “The board has analyzed and judges positively the compensation agreement announced by the Argentine government for the seizure of Repsol's 51% shareholding in YPF,” the Spanish group said in a statement.

To develop the draft accord, Respol said it had decided to launch talks shortly between its teams and the Argentine government so as to find a “fair, effective and quick solution to the controversy”.

The talks must deal in particular with the “terms and guarantees” required for the deal to be effective, Repsol's board said. The firm said it had agreed to hire a “prestigious international investment bank” for the negotiations.

The expropriation of YPF, which Cristina Fernandez blamed on Repsol's failure to make agreed investments in the firm, soured relations between Argentina and Spain and sparked an international chorus of outrage including from Spain's European Union partners.

This week, however, Argentina's government said it had struck a preliminary deal with Spain in talks in Buenos Aires, news that sent Repsol shares surging.

The exact value of the agreed compensation has not been officially released but a source close to the matter said it amounted to 5 billion dollars in Argentine government bonds.

The deal stipulated the withdrawal of legal actions underway, Argentina said.

After the YPF grab, Repsol filed a complaint against Argentina with a World Bank arbitration panel, seeking 10.5 billion, and sued in a New York court seeking an undetermined amount of damages.

On January 26, Repsol had rejected a settlement offer valued by Argentina at 5 billion, saying it was worth considerably less and included a minority share in a deposit along with only 1.5 billion in cash, which had to be invested in a local company.

Settlement of the legal tangle could help to lure investment into the vast Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field in Argentina, discovered by YPF in 2010.

It is estimated to contain the equivalent of 22.8 billion barrels of oil, described by Repsol at the time as the largest discovery in its history.

The draft YPF compensation agreement was reached between the governments of Argentina, Spain and Mexico.

Pemex, which owns a 9.5-percent stake in Repsol, said the board's backing of the deal was “a good signal” that could “prevent a long and complex process with an uncertain outcome.”