Argentina to nationalise Spain oil company

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Argentina to nationalise Spain oil company
April 17, 2012 - 3:44AM

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has proposed a bill to nationalise the YPF oil company that is controlled by Spain's Repsol, moving ahead with the plan despite fierce opposition from Madrid.

Fernandez said in an address to the country that the measure sent to congress on Monday is aimed at recovering the nation's sovereignty over its hydrocarbon resources. She said the shares being expropriated will be split between the national and provincial governments.

The president complained that Argentina last year had to spend more than $US3 billion ($A2.91 billion) to important gas and petroleum.

Spanish officials have already protested the plan, saying Argentina risks becoming "an international pariah" if it takes control of Repsol's YPF subsidiary.

Read more: http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/argentina-to-nationalise-spain-oil-company-20120417-1x465.html

[banned from Kos]

1. This is illegal under the US Consitution

before someone says we should do it.

[bongbong]

2. Illegal under the Constitution?

That isn't a hindrance to the plans of the 1%. Not in the slightest.

[bemildred]

5. It is completely legal and has been done many times already.

What is illegal under the Constitution is taking without "due process" and "just compensation". YPF Repsol will most likely get something.

[banned from Kos]

6. yeah - the Fifth Amendment says "just compensation" on takings

Usually South American countries don't provide such.

That is OK with me though. If you're in Peru take your property back from them.

[bemildred]

9. Yeah, actually they do.

Not necessarily as much as the current owners might like, but they generally got it themselves by use of force in the first place, so ...

[bemildred]

10. When you hear them whining about "international pariah" that is a tell

that they have nothing better, like the law, on their side.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. Usually they do, although just as usually there is a dispute over what the valuation is.

But if you have evidence that Latin American countries frequently nationalize businesses without compensation, please do provide it.

Just so I have it straight, your original assertion was that nationalization was illegal under our constitution. You then back tracked to a lesser assertion that taking without compensation was illegal (and we can all agree that is true,) and added a new assertion that Latin American nations nationalize without compensation "usually", where usually means to me "more often than not".

[4th law of robotics]

3. I'm guessing they did the math

and figured they would gain more from this action then they will lose in the inevitable retaliation.

[bemildred]

4. Long overdue. nt

[newfie11]

7. Go Argentina!!!!

[Cleita]

18. Now it's time for us to nationalize BP and any other foreign oil companies operating here.

As a matter-of-fact we should nationalize them all and keep the profits for the citizens of the US.

[newfie11]

19. Agreed!!!! nt

[Angleae]

20. Which would cost how many trillions of dollars?

The 4th & 5th amendment specifically disallow just siezing any property without just compensation or due process.

[Cleita]

21. Like the trillions we are spending on criminal wars to enable these guys

to make their blood money profits?

[4th law of robotics]

24. Not to mention those foreign companies would put pressure

on their countries to retaliate in some way. As I suspect Argentina will find.

It could be that they do little business with Spain so this won't hurt them much (not saying that is the case, I really don't know).

But the US and Britain? Yeah that's not really a trade war we want to start.

[Lars77]

28. Or just make them pay tax

[Cleita]

30. In another life I would agree, but I have moved to the left on this.

Foreign owned companies have been successfully nationalized in other countries. The American copper mine that my dad worked in for forty-four years in Chile was nationalized shortly after he retired. It was a big improvement for the lives of the Chileans who worked there and the profits go to social programs in the country.

[dipsydoodle]

8. Bloombergs article on the subject

leaves doubt as to whether Argentina expects to pay for the 51% they will nationalise.

[Warren Stupidity]

11. She's a dictator!

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Yet another shiny object to distract the Argentine populace

not unlike the Falklands.

The current government must think there are some real problems at home

[Warren Stupidity]

14. Actually it really isn't like the Falklands much at all,

except of course for the heavy handed neocolonial attitude of the first world powers. There appears to be an underlying, pun intended, motive here: a shit ton of shale oil and gas that will become quite valuable as oil prices continue to rise. Argentina thinks perhaps most of that value ought to go to the Argentinian people, the usual suspects from the global financial elites have other ideas. I know where I stand.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. We are assuming different motivations

Normally I side with the home countries as long as fair compensation is paid. It is not clear if some compensation will be paid or not, but normally that is what happens.

However, I am not so sure about their thinking. With the current government doing the Falklands dance to distract the people again, I wonder if anything major they do has the same intent. Should the current government fall and a new one arise that also supports nationalization and does not appear to be trying to distract the populace, I would be quite supportive

[Warren Stupidity]

16. If you google the news on this, buried under the diatribes

is the discussion of the potential future value of oil resources in Argentina. The truth leaks out if you look hard enough for it. Besides, when every major media outlet is speaking with one voice on a subject like this, I'm generally confident that the opposing viewpoint, the one not being discussed, is the one with merit.

[Arctic Dave]

17. Long overdue.

This should the pie holes of repugs up here saying we aren't competitive with the rest of the world.

[NuttyFluffers]

22. good.

[Snake Alchemist]

23. Next, reclaim the Falklands. nt

[Becka2515]

25. Are you kidding?

The vast majority of the people who live on the Falkland Islands want to keep it the way it is. Argentina has no claim real or imagined.

[4th law of robotics]

27. For what purpose?

[Lars77]

29. Argentina / Spain never had settlements there

I know it looks odd that England should have sovereignty over it, but Argentina has no business taking it.

[Judi Lynn]

26. Argentina's defiance on YPF strikes chord at home

Argentina's defiance on YPF strikes chord at home
Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:07pm EDT
By Helen Popper and Hilary Burke

BUENOS AIRES, April 17 (Reuters) - Argentina's drive to seize control of leading energy company YPF from Spain's Repsol may have outraged European trade partners and foreign investors, but many ordinary citizens hailed it as virtually heroic.

The move by combative President Cristina Fernandez appealed to Argentines who are critical about the vagaries of global finance and the controversial privatizations of the 1990s - a decade remembered for rampant corruption and factory closures in Latin America's No. 3 economy.

Fernandez loyalists pasted "Thank You Cristina" posters on government buildings in the capital Buenos Aires and supporters of the expropriation drive praised the president's boldness.

"It's about recovering what's ours," said Julio Olaz, a passerby in downtown Buenos Aires. "We need to get together and make sure Argentina belongs to Argentina and not to foreigners."

The takeover move could help Fernandez regain the political initiative after a series of unpopular policy moves and a corruption probe involving her vice president that have eroded her approval ratings since her landslide re-election in October last year.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/17/argentina-ypf-idUSL2E8FGG5620120417?rpc=401