Spain Ramps Up Diplomatic Pressure On Argentina On YPF
by Dow Jones Newswires Ilan Brat Friday, April 13, 2012
rigzone.com
excerpt:
Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, Spain's foreign minister, on Friday called Carlos Bettini, the Argentine ambassador, to a meeting where he reinforced Repsol's importance to the Spanish state. At a subsequent press conference, Garcia-Margallo said his government is in daily touch with Argentina on the situation, and said that while Spain wanted dialogue, it was also studying possible measures to be adopted in the event of any intervention.
Separately, the European Union said it has formally expressed its concerns to the Argentine government and said it is monitoring the situation.
Earlier Friday, Repsol said that the Argentine government hasn't communicated any details about plans.
Spain has been raising the tenor of its communications regarding the YPF matter in recent days. Were Argentina to forcefully injure Spanish business interests, it will prompt some kind of response, Energy Minister Jose Manuel Soria indicated prior to Kirchner's speech Thursday. Any hostile gestures toward Spanish companies will also be considered "hostility toward Spain and the government of Spain," he said, adding that such actions would have "consequences."
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