Argentina row forces Repsol to set aside €1.28bn

Argentina's nationalisation of oil driller YPF forced the Spanish former owner Repsol to take a charge of 1.28 billion euros ($1.78 billion)last year, the energy giant said on Friday. Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner stunned the international financial community in April 2012 by ordering the nationalisation of Repsol's 51-percent stake in YPF. Repsol in November accepted a draft deal for Argentina to compensate it for the seizure with five billion dollars in Argentine government bonds. In a statement to stock market authorities on Friday, Repsol said it valued the seized shares at that amount. "The financial results for 2013 will therefore include provisions of 1.279 billion euros after tax," it said. Repsol reported net profits of 384 million euros in the third quarter of 2013 -- down by nearly 49 percent from a year earlier, citing disruptions to drilling in Libya and a weak market in Europe. It publishes its results for the whole year on February 28.