Category:

Argentina nears deal with Spanish group Repsol over YPF seizure

Argentina is close to striking a deal with Spanish oil group Repsol to compensate the company for the nationalisation of its YPF unit last year which prompted a diplomatic crisis between Buenos Aires and Madrid. A delegation from Spain, including José Manuel Soria, industry minister, and several executives from Repsol , met Argentine officials in Buenos Aires on Monday to reach a preliminary agreement over compensation for the Spanish company, people close to the talks said. Repsol said in a statement on Monday night that it had noted the agreement between the governments and would consider its value to its shareholders ahead of a board meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Argentina, led by president Cristina Fernández, expropriated Repsol’s majority stake in YPF, its former state oil company, last year after accusing the company of failing to invest sufficiently in the country’s energy sector, a charge Repsol vehemently denied. Repsol was […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Bread prices in Argentina rise as corn and wheat scarcity kicks in

BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 29 (UPI) — Argentina’s wheat and corn distribution chaos, caused by erratic supplies and now widespread scarcity, has finally reached bakeries that are charging exorbitant prices for bread despite government warnings of a crackdown. Corn and wheat shortages began several months ago and weren’t relieved despite what critics called the government’s stopgap measures. The timing of the grain shortage and its direct impact on bakeries couldn’t be worse, critics said as media furor over bread prices and and shortages captured headlines days before Argentina’s mid-term elections. Gaps in supplies of corn were also reported across the country, Argentine media reported. Traders said wholesale prices for both corn and wheat were double those on Chicago markets as profiteering set in. Bakeries said they couldn’t avoid price hikes, forced as they were to pay ever higher rates for flour. Weather vagaries would likely impact on the new wheat […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Falklands oil prospecting firms to merge, aim to boost finds

STANLEY, Falkland Islands , Oct. 24 (UPI) — Two of the companies drilling for oil in the Falkland Islands’ South Atlantic waters are merging and further corporate patch-ups may not be far behind, industry analysts said. After several fits and starts, and investor jitters over the prospecting firms’ lackluster performance in the early phase of Falklands oil quest, the British Overseas Territory’s oil economy is stabilizing, analysts said. The oil-fueled optimism in the territories bodes well for companies and existing shareholders and is certain to draw more cash into the venture, made controversial and risky by Argentina disputing both the territory’s British rule and the mainly British oil companies’ right to prospect for oil. Britain and Argentina went to war over the islands in 1982 after an Argentine military junta briefly captured parts of the territories. The 74-day Falklands War led to deaths of 649 Argentine and 255 British […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple