Argentina to seize control of oil company - Americas - Al Jazeera English
Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has unveiled plans to seize control of the country's biggest oil company YPF, owned by Spain's Repsol, provoking an angry response from Madrid.
The announcement on Monday drew swift warnings from key trade partners, who said that relations with Buenos Aires would be damaged by the move.
YPF has been under intense pressure from Kirchner's centre-left government to boost production, and its share price has plunged due to months of speculation about a state takeover.
Kirchner said the government would ask Argentina's senate, where her party controls a majority, to approve a bill to expropriate a controlling 51 per cent stake in the company by seizing shares held exclusively by Repsol, saying energy was a "vital resource".
"If this policy continues - draining fields dry, no exploration and practically no investment - the country will end up having no viable future, not because of a lack of resources but because of business policies," she said.
Spain denounced the "hostile" move and warned that it would take "clear and forceful measures" in response. Argentina to seize control of oil company - Americas - Al Jazeera English
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