Argentine oil firm made $3 bn investments in 2011

Asia Bulletin (IANS) Wednesday 8th February, 2012

Argentine oil company YPF, a unit of Spain's Repsol-YPF, announced Wednesday that its investments in the South American country rose last year by 50 percent to a record 13.3 billion pesos ($3.06 billion).

The country's largest oil and gas producer, which President Cristina Fernandez's government has accused of not investing enough in Argentina, cited the investment figure in a regulatory filing.

The announcement was made just two days after Repsol Chairman and CEO Antonio Brufau met with Argentina's planning and economy ministers, Julio De Vido and Hernan Lorenzino, amid controversy over the accusations made by Argentine government and rumors about plans to nationalize the formerly state-owned YPF.

"Even though YPF has 60 percent of the fuel market, it has not made investments to expand its refineries in the time that the country's sustained demand growth requires," De Vido said last weekend, also accusing the company of not making sufficient investment in exploration and production.

YPF said Wednesday that more than 8.9 billion pesos ($2.05 billion) of its 2011 investment total were earmarked for exploration and production, while another 4.2 billion pesos ($965.5 million) were allocated to refining, logistics, chemicals and marketing.

--IANS/EFE

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