Out of gas LITTLE more than a year ago President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced the nationalisation of YPF, an oil company owned by Spain’s Repsol. Ms Fernández called it a victory for “energy sovereignty”, claiming that Repsol had plundered its Argentine holding for quick profits without investing in exploration or development. But on July 16th, after a year in which YPF’s oil and gas production continued to disappoint, the government announced that it had agreed on a big joint venture between YPF and a different foreign oil giant, Chevron.Argentina’s energy industry is in a sad state. In 2011 the country became a net importer of energy for the first time since 1984, further eroding its foreign-currency reserves, now at their lowest in six years. Nationalisation has not helped: in the first quarter of this year YPF’s output of crude oil fell by 0.7% and of natural gas by 3.7%. April saw a fire at a refinery. Energy imports are expected to reach $14 billion this year, up from $9.2 billion in 2012.The great hope is vast shale-oil and gas reserves in Neuquén province, which Repsol discovered shortly before the government...
via The Economist: The Americas http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21582304-recently-nationalised-oil-company-agrees-big-foreign-investment-flogging-dead-cow?fsrc=rss|ame
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