YPF (Repsol) nationalization in the light of International Law

Abstract

In April 2012, the Argentinean Government announced the expropriation of 51% of YPF shares, YPF being a subsidiary of the Spanish company Repsol. The main arguments used to justify that decision were recovering control over a natural resource and the lack of investment by Repsol in the Argentinean oilfields. Bilateral norms on investments between Argentina and Spain bind the Argentinean Government to adequately compensate Repsol. Should this compensation not take place, some legal mechanisms are in place to protect the Spanish company. In this paper, those mechanisms are analyzed, as well as different possibilities for a satisfactory resolution of the dispute in this context.