Deputy Economy Minister Axel Kicillof defended the YPF-Chevron agreement that has prompted strong criticism over the past days. The US giant comes to team up with Argentina’s state-run company, not to “take away” the hydrocarbon market.
In statement to media, Kicillof affirmed the deal involves a 50/50 joint venture.
“(Chevron) provides the initial capital, YPF provides the workforce and will also operate the area,” the Kirchnerite official said and added that the recently expropriated firm from Spain’s Repsol “will learn how to get resources by the hand of an American company that has experience in the extraction of non-conventional hydrocarbons.”
For Kicillof, the move seeks to promote investments that “Argentina needs,” something the opposition has called for ever since President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner decided to take over a 51 percent stake in YPF from Repsol, its majority shareholder.
“There is no state-run oil company, including Venezuela’s, the Russian Gazprom or the models of Norway or China, that does not merge with foreign capital,” he insisted and affirmed that the agreement could lead to a “significant production increase” to “guarantee hydrocarbon self-sufficiency in the long term” for Argentineans.
While defending the government’s energy agenda, Kicillof also questioned the opposition sectors that critized the accord.
“There is a sea of contradictions among the opposition. What would this people do if they ruled if they don’t know what to do, if they want foreign capital or not?,” he argued.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald