Oil company Nationalisation

[snow hope]

Interesting development in Argentina. Spain is pretty unhappy to say the least.

Is the first of many?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17739204

[emordnilap]

Good on them.

[ujoni08]

Very interesting...
I wonder if they'll back down in the face of pressure from Repsol and the Spanish government, etc?
Could be a very interesting development, and could give others ideas...

[SleeperService]

Very interesting...
I wonder if they'll back down in the face of pressure from Repsol and the Spanish government, etc?
Could be a very interesting development, and could give others ideas...

Yes, very interesting. I wonder how the other nationlisations have played out More pertinently what's next?

[revdode]

Very interesting...
I wonder if they'll back down in the face of pressure from Repsol and the Spanish government, etc?
Could be a very interesting development, and could give others ideas...

Yes, very interesting. I wonder how the other nationlisations have played out More pertinently what's next?

Quietly in Budapest and other parts of Hungary the government or local agents acting on it's behalf are buying back privatised local water companies which were partly foreign owned. Doesn't see much coverage on the BBC because the local representative seems to have a fondness for the current regime. Here the companies will most likely end up owned by a friend of a friend of someone in the current regime.

[Lord Beria3]

Very interesting...
I wonder if they'll back down in the face of pressure from Repsol and the Spanish government, etc?
Could be a very interesting development, and could give others ideas...

Yes, very interesting. I wonder how the other nationlisations have played out More pertinently what's next?

An early sign of Scarcity Industrialism... we are starting the transition into a new era of protectionism, nationalism and rationing (plus authoritarian regime and resource wars)...

[Erik]

Alternative viewpoints...

Financial Times:

But another line of reasoning leads to Argentine domestic politics and cronyism. Indeed, YPF may not be a Venezuelan-style nationalisation, as many have compared it to. Instead it may be closer to the kinds of power battles that Russia is known for. Argentina has oligarchs too and Repsol, much like western oil groups in Russia, may have got caught in the crossfire of an internal battle.

The Argentine oligarchs here are the Eskenazi family. Four years ago, they were encouraged to take a 25.5 per cent stake in YPF by former president Néstor Kirchner, Ms Fernández’s late husband. The Eskenazis did this via their Petersen Group. The $3.5bn deal was a highly leveraged transaction, with the debt entirely financed by YPF’s unusually high dividend payout – an arrangement that necessarily had Mr Kirchner’s blessing.

Everyone was happy. Repsol sold down in troublesome Argentina. A national group, meanwhile, took a stake in Argentina’s biggest company. In a country renowned for graft, favours could also be exchanged. YPF’s dividend payments tripled in just a year. But then Mr Kirchner died unexpectedly in late 2010 and the game changed. In the same way that can happen in Russia, a business group once in favour found itself outside the magic circle.

How and why is the subject of much speculation. Some say the Eskenazis may have reneged on whatever arrangement they had with Mr Kirchner after the former president’s death.

Part of the reason for the nationalisation, then, would be to teach other Argentine oligarchs a lesson: do not step out of line. In addition, Ms Fernández may also have seen a chance to bury a questionable financial arrangement. Any whiff of controversy went to the grave with her husband.

Reuters:

MADRID, April 18 (Reuters) - Spain has threatened to retaliate against Argentina for nationalising a Spanish energy firm, but Madrid will find it hard to put pressure on a maverick nation that has been shut out of world debt markets and has ignored international fines in previous disputes.
...
There is little leverage outsiders can put on Argentina except, perhaps, China, which buys 75 percent of Argentine soy beans and much of its processed soy as well.

Interesting after all this to see that China's state-owned oil company Sinopec has been (before the expropriation) and is probably continuing to negotiate the purchase of YPF shares...