MADRID – The chairman and CEO of Spanish oil major Repsol said Friday that his company is open to any form of fair compensation for former Argentine unit YPF, which the South American country seized last year.
Antonio Brufau said at a Repsol shareholders’ meeting that “under no circumstances” will the company stop seeking to recover “what belongs to all of you, which is the fair value of YPF.”
The top executive acknowledged that any agreement eventually reached with President Cristina Fernandez’s government would only be possible in the “long term,” but he stressed that Repsol was exploring all legal avenues to secure compensation.
In lawsuits filed against Argentina, the Spanish company has said it lost roughly $10.5 billion in the stake seizure.
Brufau also praised the Spanish government for its firm and resolute support for the company in its dispute with Argentina.
Fernandez’s government signed a decree on April 16, 2012, for the expropriation of a 51 percent stake in YPF from Repsol, accusing the Spanish company of failing to invest sufficiently in exploration and production and saying the move was in the nation’s interest.
Repsol still maintains a 12 percent stake in YPF, Argentina’s largest oil company. EFE