Repsol exits Argentina after YPF debacle

Spanish energy giant Repsol announced Friday it has exited Argentina, saying it pocketed $6.3 billion (4.6 billion euros) in compensation and asset sales after Buenos Aires' 2012 seizure of its YPF unit. The news marked the final chapter of a bitter row sparked in April 2012 when Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner ordered the nationalisation of Repsol's 51 percent-owned YPF unit. "Repsol has completed the disinvestment of its assets in Argentina," Repsol said in a written statement. Repsol said it had earned $5 billion from the sale of Argentine government bonds, which had been paid by Buenos Aires in compensation over the seizure of YPF. The final batch of bonds sold to investors had a face value of $117.4 million. "The $5.0 billion debt recognised by Argentina is now extinguished," the group said. In addition, Repsol said it had completed the sale of its remaining 12.34-percent stake in YPF for a total $1.31 billion. Most of the stake had been sold to investors earlier this month. "The income from these deals strengthens the company's financial standing, as has been recognised by international rating agencies," Repsol said. Credit rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service have both raised their investment-grade ratings of Repsol in view of its exit from the troubled Argentine business. Buenos Aires' seizure of the YPF operations forced Repsol to make provisions of 1.28 billion euros in 2013 and sent its profits for that year plunging by 90 percent. For YPF, settlement of the dispute with Repsol could remove legal questions over its assets, helping to lure foreign investment to the vast Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field in Argentina, which YPF discovered in 2010. The Vaca Muerta find 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.